Brownfields, or “sites with personalities” as we like to call them, were once contaminated, under-utilized, or undeveloped, usually in an urban or industrial setting. The annual Brownie Awards provide a forum for recognizing and celebrating outstanding brownfield projects, people, and policies that have helped redevelop and revitalize these sites across Canada. These renewed residential, commercial, industrial, and open space projects contribute to the growth and resilient recovery of healthy cities and communities.
The Brownie Awards, which are presented through the partnership of the Canadian Brownfields Network (CBN) and Actual Media Inc. (parent company of Environment Journal), are excited to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Brownie Awards this year. With this milestone in mind, the Brownie Awards jury refreshed the award categories and added a special one-time award in honour of the silver anniversary.
Here’s a focused overview of the outstanding finalists for this year’s Brownie Awards.
Brownie Awards 2024 Finalists
REPROGRAM: Legislation, Policy and Program Initiatives
Richmond Industrial Centre Development – Richmond, BC
What is now Metro Vancouver’s largest single-owner-developed business park was a 130 hectare landfill of inert demolition construction and land-clearing waste. Montrose Industries is converting a landfill that had been operating since the 1970s into a much needed logistical hub in a metropolitan area desperately short of industrial land. This project’s groundbreaking approach to regulatory challenges and innovations in infrastructure development have been a gamechanger for other brownfield remediation projects.
Project Team: Montrose Properties, PGL Environmental Consultants, BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, Omicron
Alberta Environment & Protected Areas (EPA) Guide to Excluding the Domestic Use Aquifier based on Municipal Bylaw (Guide, 2022) – The City of Calgary Process for Municipal Bylaw Confirmation – Calgary, AB
Alberta published a “Guide to Excluding the Domestic Use Aquifer based on Municipal Bylaws,” which enables the elimination of the DUA pathway for sites located within a municipality with a bylaw prohibiting the installation and use of potable groundwater supply wells. Now with the Guide in effect, the elimination of a non-operable DUA pathway serves as an enabling step to making urban contaminated site remediation projects more feasible.
Project Team: City of Calgary, AB Environment and Protected Areas (AEPA), City of Edmonton, Alberta Municipalities Association, Canadian Fuels Association
Qualified Persons Community of Ontario – ON
The Qualified Persons Community of Ontario (QPCO) was formed in 2021. It is a volunteer-based organization administered by Ontario Environment Industry Association (ONEIA) to provide a forum for Qualified Persons to congregate and discuss common issues, educate themselves through discussion, peer to peer communications, webinars, and presentations. QPCO is working with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to continue to improve the Records of Site Condition process in Ontario (through Reg. 153/04) for the betterment of the Brownfield industry through open dialogue and understanding of the process to attain time certainty and costs for the leaders of brownfield redevelopment.
Project Team: QPCO Leadership Volunteers, ONEIA Board of Directors and Operations Staff, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Environmental Permissions (Brownfields), Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, Professional Engineers Ontario, and Professional Geoscientists Ontario.
REMEDIATE: Technological Innovation
Red Rock Critical Mineral Hub – Mill Site Rehabilitation – Red Rock, ON
The Red Rock Mill Site Rehabilitation Project has been led by the Red Rock Mill Development’s (RRMDI) team in support of the BMI Group’s efforts to revitalize brownfield sites across Ontario. The mill site officially closed all operations in 2006, and remained a vacant site until RRMDI’s acquisition in 2021. Over the past 3 years, RRMDI has set forth a development plan and remediation efforts to transform the site into a Critical Mineral Hub (CMH) for Northern Ontario.
Project Team: The Red Rock Mill Site remediation initiative had contributions from many teams and disciplines, however, the standout contributors are: Red Rock Indian Band (Indigenous Partner), The BMI Group (Parent Company of RRMDI, Project Developer), Pinchin Ltd. (Environmental Consultant), Township of Red Rock, GFL Environmental
PCB Boundary Control – Mississauga, ON
The project is focused on fostering the redevelopment of a dormant hazardous brownfield located in the heart of a growing and active industrial and commercial community. With PCBs, chlorinated solvents, PHCs, potential off-site migration and free product – the site has a varied and storied past, complete with several ultimately unsuccessful remedial efforts and the well-intentioned but unfortunately mismanaged handling of hazardous levels of PCBs. However, through the implementation of a robust property boundary control with PRBs, hotspot remediation and free-product isolation, and vapour intrusion mitigation and management, this 14.6 acre diamond in the rough is being polished into a safe and profit generating asset.
Project Team: Pinchin, Montcrest, VEI Contracting, Green Infrastructure Partners Inc.
Anaerobic Bioremediation Facilitates Site Redevelopment – Saskatoon, SK
The site was formerly used as a gas bar and service station from 1964-2011. Upon decommissioning the storage tanks and building in 2011, significant concentrations of PHCs and VOCs remained in the soil and groundwater across most of the site. Remediation estimates for several different traditional approaches exceeded the value of the land by a significant margin, leading to the site sitting vacant and unused between 2011-2022 due to lack of an economic path to remediation and redevelopment. In 2022 R Squared Environmental Inc. was retained to implement an anaerobic remediation program after providing a costed proposal at a price point that made remediation costs far less than the land value, thus providing an economic way to remediate the vacant brownfield site and facilitate redevelopment within a 2-year timeframe. The City of Saskatoon awarded the project a significant one-time grant through their vacant lot and adaptive re-use incentive program.
Project Team: R Squared Environmental Inc., Aggressive Outdoor Services Inc., Saskatoon Cooperative Association Ltd., Northstar Innovative Developments Inc., City of Saskatoon
REMEDIATE: Sustainable Remediation
Vivenda Remediation and Development Project Made Possible Using a Novel Approach – Montréal, QC
As part of a condominium construction project by a developer (Vivenda) the environmental remediation of the property located on the site of a former quarry, in Montréal was to be carried out. An industrial building was demolished in 2015, and the land had been vacant prior to this project. ALTRA | SANEXEN proposed a remediation approach combining excavation of contaminated soils up to the level of the groundwater table, in-situ treatment of soils contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons and a risk assessment to leave the contaminated soils with metals in place. A decision-making diagram was integrated into the remediation plan to include a technical impracticability option, allowing an end to the in-situ treatment, a significant departure from the established procedure.
The approval of the remediation plan facilitated brownfield redevelopment by allowing the client to get funding from the bank.
Project Team: Vivenda, Sanexen Environmental Services Inc., Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs
Port Granby Project – Clarington, ON
As part of the Port Hope Area Initiative, the Port Granby Project successfully relocated more than 1.3 million tonnes of historic low-level radioactive waste and marginally contaminated soils, located on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Municipality of Clarington, in Southern Ontario. The area has now been restored with native trees and grasses and forms part of a wider corridor for a nature reserve in Port Granby.
Project Team: Design Engineering, Environmental Monitoring, Construction, Waste-Water Treatment, Project Management Team
Victoria Island Site Remediation – Ottawa, ON
Victoria Island spans 5.6 hectares in the Ottawa River just north of the downtown core. This site has a rich history of mixed industrial, commercial, and residential use dating back to the late 1800s. Due to these historical activities, this brownfield site had soil, groundwater, and sediment contamination. The island is acknowledged as a place of special significance for Indigenous Peoples in the National Capital Region. The National Capital Commission is undertaking remediation efforts to address these health and safety concerns and to prepare the site for future use that will include the development of a master plan in partnership with the Algonquin Anishinabe Nation to establish a place of special significance in the Capital for Indigenous peoples and their cultural traditions.
Project Team: Owner/Client: National Capital Commission; Owner’s engineer/consultant: WSP; and, Contractor: Decontie Milestone Inc.
RESTRATEGIZE: Partnership and Community Engagement
Canals Development – Welland, ON
The Empire Canals Development in Welland, Ontario comprises the redevelopment of 2 former industrial lands adjacent to the Welland Canal. The western portion (Canals West) was first developed by John Deere in 1911 for the manufacture of rotary cutters, utility vehicles and loaders. Manufacturing ceased in 2009. The eastern portion (Canals East), a former auto wrecking facility, was also subject to extensive infilling due to dredging activities during Canal construction. The 145-hectare site is actively being re-developed for mixed-use, including residential (over 2,200 homes), parkland, institutional, community, and commercial uses. To date, 400 homes have already been constructed. The development brings much needed housing to Welland to support the employment growth in Welland and the Region of Niagara.
Project Team: Empire Communities, Armstrong Planning, EXP Services Inc., YORK1, and MBTW.
Sp’akw’us Feather Park – Squamish, BC
A joint project led by Matthews West and the District of Squamish, funding was provided in part by provincial brownfields funding and GMF grants. The Park was designed to promote the cultural restoration of the area with significant input, support, and knowledge sharing from the Squamish Nation. The use of the land in this regard required outside the box thinking to remediate associated exposures. The order to remediate was implemented twenty-five years ago and ongoing management has seen significant reductions in impacts.
Project Team: Matthews West, Stantec, District of Squamish, and Squamish Nation.
Station 20 West – Saskatoon, SK
Station 20 West is an innovative community funded, community focused brownfield redevelopment in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan built in 2012. It sits on the edge, connecting several inner-city neighbourhoods and adjacent to the rail line that fed the West. The population has high concentration of poverty and is predominantly Indigenous and Immigrant. The goal was to create a Social Enterprise Centre, bringing much needed multifaceted social benefits to the community such as food security, public health access, a grocery store, housing co-op, and other community NGOs, like a new mothers support group. Sadly, the grocery store is now closed, however there is an Indigenous ran café.
Project Team: CHEP Good Food Inc., Quint Development, City of Saskatoon.
REBUILD: Project Development at the Building Scale
Sugar Wharf Condominiums – Former LCBO Warehouse – Toronto, ON
Wonder Condos – Toronto, ON
Radiance Co-Housing – Saskatoon, SK
RENEW: Project Development at the Neighbourhood Scale
Spur Line Common – Waterloo, ON
Richmond Industrial Centre Development – Richmond, BC
Canals Development – Welland, ON
Sp’akw’us Feather Park – Squamish, BC
REFOCUS: Vision of Alternative Benefits to Brownfield Remediation
Union Carbide Property Regeneration – Welland, ON
Beare Hill Park – Toronto, ON
Radiance Co-Housing – Saskatoon, SK
25th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION: Outstanding Achievement in Brownfield Advancement
Federal Contaminated Sites Remediation Projects – Nunavut
East Village Revitalization – Calgary, AB
Region of Waterloo Brownfields Financial Incentive Program – Waterloo, ON
The prestigious Brownfielder of the Year award winner information is available here:
Three additional awards will be presented for Best Small-Scale Project, Best Large-Scale Project, and Best Overall Project, selected from all the nominations received.
The awards will be presented in person at the Brownie Awards Gala on November 18th, 2024, at the Delta Hotel by Marriott in Toronto.
Note: Were you involved with a Brownfield project — that either won a Brownie Award or was a finalist — and is now complete? Please submit your before and after photos by November 1st to be part of the “Before and After” series at the 25th Brownie Awards. Click here to submit.
To register for the Brownie Awards, visit:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/brownie-awards-2024-tickets-774534452397
For further information on the Brownie Awards and these finalists, visit:
https://brownieawards.ca/
Featured image credit: Canals Development in Welland, ON.
