Soil-recycling study demonstrates clear benefits
Waterfront Toronto Port Lands Pilot Soil Recycling Facility
LAND USE
Remediating the hundreds of hectares of former industrial lands on Toronto's waterfront will improve environmental health and reduce urban sprawl.
Waterfront Toronto is studying the latest on-site soil-washing technologies as it seeks ways to turn the contaminated soil from a liability into a resource. In a field test, two contractors processed approximately 20,000 cubic metres of soil on site in less than three months.
The cost per tonne was comparable to the traditional dig-and-dump approach, which involves trucking contaminated soil to a landfill. Not only does recycling keep contaminated soil out of landfills, it virtually eliminates dump truck traffic between the site and the landfill. This reduces damage to roadsand to the environment.
Results
| Environmental | Economic | Social |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Challenges
- Finding a way to remediate two million cubic metres of soil contaminated by more than 150 years of industrial activity
- Finding environmentally and economically suitable ways to remediate contaminated soil on site, rather than removing it to landfills and trucking in clean fill
- Testing soil-washing, a practice not yet permitted under Ontario regulations
Lessons learned
- Soil recycling is an affordable alternative to digging and dumping. Given its environmental and social benefits, governments should encourage it.
- Ontario environmental regulations should permit movement of contaminated soil in the waterfront area, and categorize recycled soil as safe rather than waste.
- On-site evaluations of similar soil-washing technologies led to more accurate comparisons.
Resources
Partners and Collaborators
- Waterfront Toronto
- FCM's Green Municipal Fund
- City of Toronto
- Toronto Port Lands Authority
- Deme Environmental Contractors
- Tetra Tech Canada Construction
- The Cannington Group
- Ontario Centre for Environmental Technology Advancement (now known as the Bloom Centre for Sustainability)
- Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
Project Contact
Raffi Bedrosyan, Director
Port Lands and Civil Infrastructure
Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation
T. 416-214-1479
Want to explore all GMF-funded projects? Check out the Projects Database for a complete overview of funded projects and get inspired by municipalities of all sizes, across Canada.
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