2020 SMART Ottawa

Clayton Truax

Mr. Clayton Truax is the Manager, National Center of Expertise – Contaminated Sites within Public Services Procurement Canada (PSPC). In this role, he is responsible for national functional direction including delivery of the PSPC custodial program, Expert Support functions, and oversight of significant programs and projects implemented through PSPC's Common Services role. Clayton joined the department in October 2001 and has subsequently occupied a number of progressive positions related to expanding the Department’s leadership role in contaminated sites within the federal government. Prior to joining PSPC, he spent 14 years in the private sector as an environmental consultant managing contaminated sites and other environmentally related projects in Canada and the United States. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Master’s Degree from the University of Waterloo in Civil Engineering and is a licenced Professional Engineer in Ontario.

Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP) and the separate Northern Abandoned Mines Reclamation Program (NAMRP)

Michael S. Hebert

Michael Hebert is one of the leading Environmental Law lawyers in Canada. His visionary work as the Plaintiff’s counsel in Tridan v. Shell, 2002 Carswell, Ont 1, 154 O.A.C. 1, 57 O.R. (3d) 503, a benchmark decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal radically changed the face of environmental law and the assistance it afforded to victims of environmental damage. This case established three leading principles which govern compensation and are today followed by Courts throughout Ontario and the rest of Canada. Michael’s work following that decision has continued to demonstrate a careful and innovative approach to environmental claims. He also provides ongoing consulting to all interested parties dealing with contaminated land, as well as consulting and advocacy in relation to regulatory and compliance matters under applicable environmental legislation. Michael has been appointed to the Executive of the National Environmental, Energy and Resources Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association. He also assists the Environmental Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association. Michael was born in Ottawa and obtained a B.A. Cum Laude in Economics from Carleton University. He also graduated Cum Laude from the University of Ottawa Law School in 1977. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1979 and joined the Beament firm in 1985. In addition to his environmental practice, Michael maintains a broad base of commercial litigation including corporate, construction, contractual, real estate and financial matters. He continues to advise public and private organizations in risk management relating to ongoing liabilities arising out of large and complex commercial and environmental matters. Michael is a member of the Advocates’ Society and has been an instructor at the Bar Admission Course. He has delivered many papers to professional associations within his areas of expertise.

Current Environmental / Legal Intersections To Be Aware Of

Albert Ho

Albert Ho is the Director of Environmental Programs with First Capital Realty for 8 years. He provides direction and leadership to manage environmental risk nationally. Albert has over 20 years of experience in the field of environmental risk management, investigation and remediation. His experience includes both working as an environmental consultant and working in industry including real estate and manufacturing. He is a Professional Engineer and holds a Bachelor and Master of Engineering (Environmental) from the University of Guelph, MBA from Queen’s University, and Certified Risk Manager (CRM). Albert enjoys learning and is very open to new ideas. He is also a Sessional Lecturer for the Graduate Department of Physical & Environmental Sciences at University of Toronto Scarborough teaching Contaminated Sites Remediation to students of the Master of Environmental Science Program.

Environmental Risk Management in Real Estate

How does a publicly traded real estate company manage environmental risk? This presentation will touch on some of the key functional teams within a real estate company and explore their roles and how environmental risk is managed. These teams include Investments, Valuations, Leasing, Financing, Construction, Development and Property Management. A case study will be presented examining the journey from acquisition due diligence of a property to the development planning while incorporating environmental management.

Jessica Boily

Jessica Boily is an environmental lawyer in the Toronto office of Gowling WLG. Jessica focuses on environmental litigation, drawing on her commercial litigation background to achieve successful and cost-effective outcomes for her clients. Jessica uses her procedural expertise and technical knowledge to advocate for her clients. Jessica understands that complex disputes require creative scientific and legal approaches. Her clients appreciate her practical advice when managing and resolving multi-party environmental disputes. When litigation is necessary, her clients know that she is a trial lawyer who uses her courtroom and tribunal experience to achieve the best outcome. Jessica’s litigation experience means she understands risk and can help clients manage it. She provides proactive advice and helps engage with regulators on matters involving contaminated sites, director and officer liability, environmental approvals and permits, pest control products, chemical substances, waste, transportation of dangerous goods, reporting and emergency response.

Science on Trial: What Environmental Consultants Need to Know About Giving Evidence in Court

George Boire

George has over 34 years of experience in environmental risk management associated with commercial and industrial operations. George is the Environmental Practice Leader for Marsh Canada where he has been for the past 16 years. His responsibilities include managing the operations of the practice, acting as a senior advisor to clients, managing company relationships with leading environmental insurance markets, as well as fostering new environmental risk consulting and insurance opportunities with our clients. A significant portion of George’s work is related to helping clients assess their potential environmental risks and transfer them as appropriate using traditional insurance and/or alternative risk financing options such as captives. George is also part of a Sustainability practice that includes representative from various Marsh and McLennan (MMC) companies that is looking for ways to help our clients assess and manage risks associated with climate change. George is also responsible for developing and fostering strategic business alliances with centres of influence including law firms, consulting firms, and lenders.

Buying, Selling and/or Redeveloping Commercial Real Estate

Paul Nicholson

Paul Nicholson, P.Eng is a senior environmental engineer with a focus on assessing and mitigating human health risks associated with sub-surface vapour intrusion. Paul managed Geosyntec’s recently completed US Department of Defense funded 5-year research project on the optimization of sub-slab mitigation systems 9ESTCP ER201322). Through this research Geosyntec continues to develop innovative solutions to vapour intrusion problems and expand the understanding on how to design optimal mitigation systems. Paul was integrally involved in the development of Geosyntec’s High Volume Sampling (HVS) protocol and the subsequent modeling and analysis of HVS data for understanding the pneumatic properties of vapour intrusion. All of these tools have led to a focus on the mitigation of new and existing large commercial/industrial properties. In addition to vapour intrusion activities, Paul is involved with many remediation projects including multi-phase extraction (MPE) for hydrocarbons, enhanced in-situ bioremediation (EISB) of chlorinated solvents and the design and installation of soil vapour extraction (SVE) systems. Paul has worked on remediation sites in Canada, United States, Malaysia, Mexico and Australia.

A New Model for Sub-Slab Mitigation for Vapour Intrusion

Brent Pautler

Brent Pautler received his Ph.D in Environmental Chemistry from the University of Toronto with a focus on developing novel analytical chemistry methods/proxies for characterization and quantification of natural organic matter in the cryosphere to better understand its biogeochemical cycling and past climate. Brent is the Customer Service Coordinator at SiREM with over 5 years of customer facing experience using his technical chemistry expertise to support sales, marketing, training and data interpretation for a wide variety of applications to help scientists achieve their desired goals. Part of his role at SiREM includes project management and business development of SiREM’s passive sampling offering including the Waterloo Membrane SamplerTM (WMSTM) for monitoring VOC vapor concentrations, SP3TM for hydrophobic organic analytes and SPeepersTM for metals/inorganics in sediment pore and surface waters.

Waterloo Membrane Sampler: Passive Sampling in Remediation Projects; Soil Gas, Outdoor Air and Implications for Vapor Intrusion Studies

Jean Paré

Jean Pare, P.Eng., has a degree in Chemical Engineering from Laval University. He has been involved for the last 24 years in the evaluation, development, design, and promotion of both conventional and innovative environmental technologies. As Vice President with Chemco Inc., his responsibilities include the remediation design, technico-economical analysis and technology supply for chemical oxidation and reduction, soil washing, and enhanced bio-remediation. Last year, he worked with over 400 sites applying his expertise to various types of organic and inorganic contaminants in soil and groundwater. He is also involved with many environmental organizations such as CLRA, CBN, ESAA, BCEIA and Reseau-Environnement where he is an active technical committee member and regular technical speaker.

Benefits of Combining In Situ Chemical Oxidation with In Situ Stabilization: Synergies and Solutions for Complex Sites

Nathan Lichti

Mr. Lichti is an Environmental Engineer at Vertex Environmental Inc., and has designed and implemented more than 120 in-situ remediation injection projects over the past decade involving chlorinated solvents and petroleum hydrocarbons across Canada. Mr. Lichti holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and is a Professional Engineer in Ontario.

Case Study: New Delivery Method to Inject Remedial Amendments into a Difficult Aquifer