Project Description
The Coastal Gas Link Project (CGL) involves the construction of 670 km of new natural gas pipeline spanning from Dawson Creek to Kitimat, BC. This large, complex linear project is split into 8 spreads and 4 work packages (WPs). DWB Consulting Services Ltd. (DWB) was retained by several of the prime contractors and also directly by the owner’s consulting environmental team in separate contracts in 2019 and 2020 to provide environmental monitoring services from project start up to end of 2020.
On behalf of the owner’s consulting environmental team, DWB’s scope of services was to provide environmental support over a large geographic area for spreads 3, 4, 6 and 8 with monitoring services including: water quality monitoring, bird and nest surveys, wetland surveys, amphibian surveys/salvages, fish survey/salvages, wildlife monitoring, and reporting. DWB provided both Qualified Professionals (QPs) and environmental monitors for multiple disciplines, in various spreads throughout the project, concurrently with staff requirements reaching up to 10 crews per week at its climax. Additional duties of DWB’s management team included permitting, planning, assessments and daily/weekly/monthly reporting. DWB worked closely with our First Nation staff and also with our partner company West Moberly-DWB LP to provide indigenous inclusion in our monitoring roles.
In addition to working for the owner’s consulting environmental team, DWB worked directly for several of the prime contractors including: SA Energy, Aecon and Surerus-Murphy JV as their sediment and erosion specialists in spreads 1,2,3 and 4. This arrangement was approved by CGL in order to ‘partner with prime contractors’ in the shared contractual role/responsibilities of sediment control. CGL designated sediment and erosion control as one of the most significant environmental risks of the project. DWB was retained by the Contractors to lead their sediment and erosion programs and provided a large, experienced team of Certified Professional in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESCs) and Certified Erosion and Sediment Control Leads (CESCLs) to aid the contractors in this challenging task. DWB was designated as the Erosion and Sediment Lead for all three primes and was responsible for preparing master sediment and erosion control manuals, training contractors’ staff, assessing over 300 km of pipeline right-of-way, risk ranking each site for erosion potential, mapping/GIS on all sites, preparing site-specific erosion and sediment control plans for over 300 unique high-priority sites, monitoring installation /effectiveness and providing comprehensive reporting.
Also, for the prime contractors, DWB provided emergency rapid response for sediment release and hydrocarbon spills. With a project of this magnitude and complexity, many such incidents occurred and DWB was part of the first responder team to assess, mitigate and monitor these situations as they arose across spreads 3 and 4.
Due to the highly sensitive and complex nature of this project, safety was extremely important. All staff working for CGL were highly trained with multiple safety certifications and several inclusive orientations both on-line and in the field. DWB has completed all work to date on the project without any significant safety incidents.
Environmental Services
- Certified Erosion and Sediment Control evaluations, prescriptions, installations and monitoring
- Environmental Management
- Sediment release response, management and follow-up
- Indigenous inclusion in monitoring roles through DWB partnerships
- Hydrocarbon spill response, management and follow-up