Monitoring the Soil for Contaminants at an Industrial Property in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The focus of this project was to determine whether the soil at an industrial facility was contaminated above background concentrations in Ontario, and whether there was an unacceptable level of risk to the health of humans and the environment. The sampling plan, analysis and data interpretation were developed using guiding documents from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, the Canadian Council of the Ministers of the Environment, and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. An emphasis was placed upon quality control, and a rigorous protocol for sub-sampling, to produce representative sub-samples for analysis. The results revealed that the soil at the site was within the range of background values for Ontario, and there was not an unacceptable level of risk to the health of humans and the environment for the elements analyzed.