Office of the Director
Environmental Technology Centre
Environmental Technology Advancement Directorate
Environmental Protection Service
Environment Canada
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A OH3
Tel: (613)991-5633
Fax: (613)998-1365

EMAIL INTERNET: [email protected]
EMAIL DOTS: PAYNEF@AM@AESOTT

• Analysis and Methods
• Emergencies Engineering
• Emergencies Science
• Microwave-Assisted Processes
• Mobile Sources Emissions
• Pollution Measurement

• Project results are documented in informal (unedited) manuscript reports, and formal (edited) reports available in both official languages. In addition, staff contribute technical and scientific papers to journals and to proceedings of conferences and workshops. A list of reports and papers from the Centre during this review period is given in Appendix B and a list of staff members and phone numbers is given in Appendix C. A list of abbreviations is given in Appendix D.
  
• At the Centre, the Director's Office is responsible for the overall direction of the ETC programs and for central services such as administrative and computing support. In addition, coordination of special issues is undertaken on occasion. The laboratory and field capabilities of the Centre are distributed among the following six divisions.

• PMD is responsible for co-ordination of the operation of the federal-provincial National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) Network, which consists of 380 air-monitoring instruments at 130 sampling stations located in 52 major urban areas in Canada.
• The Division also evaluates and develops new ambient air pollution measurement technology in support of the NAPS network and priority issues such as Long-Range Transportation of Air Pollution (LRTAP), air toxics, climate change and smog.
• The Division's source monitoring activities include: development and updating of Reference Methods for measurement of emissions from stationary sources in support of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) Regulations and Guidelines; development of new emissions-measurement methods in response to emerging priority issues; evaluation of commercially available monitors to measure stack emissions on a real-time basis; application of emissions measurement methods at-source to satisfy the Department's need for information for a variety of purposes, including technology development and evaluation.

• The Division undertakes emission testing of a wide variety of mobile sources, from cars, buses and trucks to ships, planes and trains.
• The MSED conducts the vehicle emissions testing for the federal government's compliance audit program for new light duty vehicles offered for sale in Canada. This joint Transport Canada/Environment Canada program evaluates new vehicles for exhaust/evaporative and particulate mass emissions to determine compliance with standards and regulations under the Canadian Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
• The Division investigates alternative fuels and alternative engine technologies to determine their potential impact on Canadian air quality and to provide emission factors for predicting total national emissions.
• The MSED undertakes joint government/industry programs to develop new technologies or to optimize existing systems, which will result in performance improvements and energy and emission reductions.
• The Division conducts testing programs to update Canadian fleet-emissions estimates, including in-use vehicle monitoring, effects of ambient temperature on emissions, and the results of emissions-control tampering. As a result of testing of this nature, the government develops regulations and guidelines to protect the Canadian environment more effectively.
• The MSED provides a unique technical advice and assistance program which includes limited testing for external clients. The program includes evaluation of fuel-saving devices and the provision of technical assistance to the general public, governments, industries, and institutions.

• The Division determines a variety of organic and inorganic compounds in diverse sample matrices, such as from air-pollution-related sources, contaminated soils, hazardous wastes and other residues. Analytical method development is also undertaken to ensure the most appropriate procedures are available for specific sample types and to support the development of environmental regulations. The Division is also engaged in Regulatory Compliance and Quality Assurance activities in support of internal and external programs.
• The Organic Laboratory measures ultra trace levels (ppt, ppq) of many organic compounds with particular emphasis on the analysis of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and other priority pollutants. A specially designed and operated Organic UltraTrace Laboratory is used for sample preparation and analysis of these toxic pollutants. The laboratory also carries out analytical projects in support of national programs, like the Enforcement Program; develops Analytical Reference methods to support CEPA regulations; designs and implements interlaboratory studies to validate analytical procedures; and manages quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) and method development programs to ensure data generated by contract labs are of the highest quality.
• The Inorganic Laboratory develops and applies ultratrace methods for the determination of elements and anions in air particulates. The principal techniques used are X-ray fluorescence and ion chromatography. X-ray fluorescence is used for the analysis of forty elements (aluminum up to lanthanum and lead). Ion chromatography is used for the analysis of ten major anions including the "acid rain" components, that is sulphate and nitrate, and ten cations (alkali metals, ammonium, and earth alkali metals). The Laboratory organizes and participates in round robins at the national or international level to promote improvements in the capabilities of Canadian analytical laboratories. The Laboratory also performs legal analyses for the regional offices of Environment Canada, and provides advice on analytical equipment and methods to private industry and governmental laboratories.
• The Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) Compliance Monitoring Unit provides support to the New Substances Division of the Commercial Chemicals Evaluation Branch by inspecting Canadian laboratories which provide data in support of New Substances Notifications, by maintaining information on the compliance status of overseas GLP laboratories, and by auditing specific laboratory studies at the request of domestic or overseas regulatory authorities. In addition, the Unit is responsible for GLP program development, for supporting GLP activities of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and for program administration in the Environmental Protection Service (EPS) and Environmental Conservation Service (ECS) of the Program on Energy Research and Development.
• The Method Development and Application Section is responsible for the forecasting of EC analytical method needs and development of new toxicological methods required for regulation. Priority analytical chemistry methods and performance-based-method guidance are developed in conjunction with the Laboratory Manager’s Committee. Aquatic and sediment toxicology methods are developed in conjunction with staff from EC regional, provincial and private-sector laboratories. The Section also develops audit checklists and guidance on data interpretation for methods required under Fisheries Act and CEPA regulations. As well, the Section puts a significant level of support towards the Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories (CAEAL) laboratory accreditation program in the area of environmental toxicology.

• The Division undertakes research on the properties, behaviour, and effects of spilled hazardous materials, and on the effectiveness and environmental benefits of in situ countermeasures such as spill-treating agents, burning, and bioremediation. Such information is used to develop research and operational models which predict the behaviour and fate of untreated and treated spills.
• R&D is also performed on techniques for measuring contamination in air, water, and soil at spill sites and on technologies for airborne remote sensing of spills.
• The Division prepares technical spill-response guidelines and manuals for use by emergency response personnel and contingency planners, and serves as the primary centre of scientific advice on pollution emergencies to the regional offices of Environment Canada and others. For spills of national concern, this role includes direct involvement in response operations through the provision of information and predictions about spill behaviour, fate and effects, and airborne remote sensing services, on-site specialized sampling and analytical support. Further, training in the use of personal protection equipment and portable hazard-level monitoring equipment is provided to Departmental emergencies personnel and to other responders.
• The Division co-ordinates the preparation of the quarterly Spill Technology Newsletter and the annual international Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program (AMOP) Seminar and the Technical Seminar on Chemical Spills (TSOCS).

• The Division undertakes engineering research, development, and demonstration work on technologies for cleaning up contamination caused by pollution emergencies, such as oil or chemical spills, and insecure hazardous waste sites. This work includes R&D on, and evaluation of, sorbent performance and containment/recovery/disposal equipment for response to oil and chemical spills in marine and non-marine environments. It also includes the development, dissemination, and use of testing protocols for evaluating spill-response equipment in the laboratory and the field.
• The Division develops and maintains a range of prototype mobile cleanup equipment which is used, in co-operation with others, to demonstrate and adapt innovative methods for on-site mitigation of water or soil contamination which is difficult to handle using conventional techniques.
• The Division serves as the primary centre of specialized engineering advice on pollution emergency cleanup to the regional offices of Environment Canada and others. For spills of national concern, this role can include direct involvement in cleanup operations through the provision of on-site expertise and unique mobile water- or soil-decontamination equipment. It also involves the overseas transfer of Canadian technologies in collaboration with the private sector.

• The Division has been formed at ETC to accelerate the development and commercialization of various applications of Environment Canada’s patented Microwave-Assisted Process (MAP^TM). This Division is responsible for the activities associated with the environmental protection applications of MAP, such as the analysis of contaminated material and the removal of contaminants from soil, as well as clean industrial process applications, such as the extraction of high value-added products from a variety of matrices, including wastes.

1. What are present levels of NO_X, VOCs and O₃ (urban/suburban/rural/remote) and temporal and spatial variations?
2. What are the long term trends in NO_X, VOCs and O₃?
3. What are background O₃ concentrations in Canada?
4. What are the atmospheric conditions and processes that lead to high O₃ levels in Canada?
5. What can be learned about atmospheric source-receptor relationships from empirical data? Are results consistent with model predictions?
6. How much ozone and precursors at a given location is the result of long-range transport, either from Canadian or U.S. sources?
7. What is the effect of elevation on ground level O₃ and how should this be addressed in network design?
8. What is the contribution of stratospheric ozone to tropospheric ozone (and vice versa)?
9. What is the role of clouds/water vapour in ozone formation and transport?

• installing and maintaining dichotomous samplers for the measurement of fine and coarse particles, and denuder filter pack systems for the measurement of acidity at several stations;
• selecting and training operators;
• arranging sample shipping and handling;
• determining major cations and anions in filter and denuder extracts by ion chromatography (IC);
• measuring acidity (pH) of the fine fraction of aerosols; and
• database maintenance, data reporting, data summarization and data interpretation.

• harmonize Canadian and U.S. toxic measurement protocols;
• provide more up-to-date emission data to EPRI; and
• adapt the PISCES model to Canada.

• Nova Scotia Power's SCR Pilot Plant at Point Tupper (N305)
• Lime and cement kilns in Qu�bec (N306)
• Recovery boiler in Qu�bec (S302/S103)

• commercially available GHG analyzers were evaluated, selected for purchase and tested at ETC laboratories to ensure that the instruments met specifications and quality assurance requirements;
• bench-scale method development was carried out to simulate field testing conditions and to evaluate the different ways of sample collection; and
• a field testing program was carried out at a local landfill site. A testing report is being prepared based on the data analysis.

• to determine the factors affecting the concentration of PCDDs/PCDFs in emissions from boilers burning salt-laden wood wastes;
• to develop control strategies to minimize these emissions; and
• to assess dioxin control equipment and technologies, and conduct pilot-plant- and/or full-scale trials.

• advice on hazardous material properties, behaviour, fate and environmental effects using experience/knowledge and up-to-date manuals and databases;
• laboratory tests to determine physical, chemical and ecotoxicological characteristics of hazardous materials, and the effectiveness and effects of spill-treating agents;
• advice and laboratory support regarding the analysis of complex, dirty samples for organic parameters and for a broad range of toxic inorganic elements;
• assistance in the identification of the potential source(s) of the spill and estimation of the time since the spill;
• spill-behaviour and spill-movement modelling using the latest-generation models and techniques;
• advice and training regarding personnel protection at pollution emergencies;
• advice and direct support regarding state-of-the-art, on-site monitoring of human and environmental hazard levels at pollution emergencies;
• advice and direct support regarding sample collection at spill sites;
• advice, on-site support and contract administration of airborne services for the remote sensing of spills;
• advice and on-site support involving set-up and operation of equipment for sampling pollutants in ambient air;
• ambient air quality data interpretation and assessment of impacts of pollutants measured;
• advice on, and evaluation of, spill countermeasures, particularly relating to containment and recovery, treatment and disposal techniques;
• laboratory bench-scale testing to assist in the selection of chemical-spill cleanup- technologies; and
• on-site specialized cleanup support at chemical spill and insecure hazardous waste sites through deployment of state-of-the-art prototype mobile water and soil treatment systems.

• providing Ukraine with Canadian techniques and equipment for continuing environmental assessment and remediation, by training and equipping a cadre of engineers, chemists and technologists; and
• giving Ukraine the capability to establish its own training programs in the future by using the small cadre of Canadian-trained experts to train other Ukrainians in Canadian procedures and technology.

• establish an Environmental Technology Centre of Excellence at Riga Technical University;
• provide Latvia with a small cadre of engineers trained in Canadian techniques and equipment for environmental site assessment and remediation;
• give Latvia the capability to establish its own training programs in the future by using the small cadre of Canadian trained experts to train other Latvians in Canadian procedures and technology; and
• carry out an environmental site assessment and remediation demonstration at former missiles sites in Latvia.