Emergencies Science and Technology Division

Environment Canada

Research Capacity
The Emergencies Science and Technology Division (ESTD) 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.


Research and Development are 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 generates technical spill-response guidelines and manuals for use by responders and contingency planners, and serves as the primary centre of scientific advice on pollution emergencies to the Department's Regions and others. For spills of national and international concern, this role includes direct involvement in response operations through the provision of airborne remote sensing services or 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 coordinates the preparation of the quarterly Spill Technology Newsletter and the delivery of the annual international Arctic & Marine Oilspill Program (AMOP) Seminar and the Technical Seminar on Chemical Spills (TSOCS).


Projects Undertaken: Oil spill remote sensing; oil properties, behaviour and analysis; chemical properties; oiled-shoreline countermeasures; biodegradation of oil spills; development of databases and related spill manuals; spill effect studies; in situ spill countermeasures; spill site safety; modelling of spill behaviour and trajectories; operational spill response techniques; study and regulation of spill treating agents.


Research Organization: The core programs of the EED, a Division of the Environmental Technology Centre, were established when the Department of the Environment was formed in the early 1970s.


The Division has a staff of about 35 scientists and technologists with extensive experience in oil and chemical analysis, oiled shoreline countermeasures, spill modelling and effects, performance and effects of in situ countermeasures like dispersants and burning, oil spill remote sensing, and on-site contamination measurement technologies. The Division owns and operates a DC-3 equipped with highly-sophisticated
oil spill remote sensing equipment, a Convair 580 equipped with a highly-sophisticated system of two radars for a variety of applications, and a variety of commercial and prototype equipment for measuring contamination at pollution emergency sites.

Company Details

Company Information

Merv Fingas
Title: Manager
Telephone: (613) 998-9622
Fax: (613) 991-9485
Email: Click Here

Products

Environmental Products And Services

Laser Fluorosensor.
Oil spilled into the environment can be difficult to detect under certain circumstances, especially visually. The laser fluorosensor is the only instrument which can unequivocally detect oil on shorelines, among weeds, with ice or debris, and on land. The technology utilizes the unique fluorescence spectra of oils, which even allows the type of oil to be identified remotely. Environment Canada has led the development of two generations of laser fluorosensor systems. The new 'scanning' system is currently operational and can be made available to users.

Personal-portable Analytical Kit.
On-site analysis of chemicals is highly desirable for spill response and contaminated-site remediation. Such analysis can reduce the costs of response to chemical spill emergencies by providing fast information for supporting rapid and informed decisions about public evacuations. Further, clean up costs at spill and contaminated sites can be reduced by fast analytical results that facilitate the efficient tailoring of contaminant removal or treatment activities. A kit has been developed which can be used to measure over 60 organic compounds in soil and water. The kit is small enough to be carried and used on-scene by an individual. It has been designed to account for usual chemical interferences and natural sources of the target chemicals. Identification of target chemicals is performed by reactant colour changes, which are calibrated to chemical concentrations.

Separation By Column Chromatography And Quantification By High Resolution Gc/Ms.
Oil spilled into the environment can undergo a number of 'weathering' processes, such as evaporation and biodegradation. Information about the extent of these processes is often needed, as is the identity of the oil, which weathering processes tend to obscure. New methods to identify and quantify 300 compounds in oil have been developed. Several of these compounds can be used as markers to identify the oil, whereas others can be used to index the amount of weathering that has taken place and to determine subsequently what fraction of the oil has evaporated and which compounds have been biodegraded.

Services