AEL environment is routinely tasked with finding clean fill for our existing projects. Since 2021, standards developed by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks  (MECP) in Ontario (O.Reg. 406/19) require soil transferred from one site to another to meet the receiving Site standards to be considered acceptable “clean” fill.

In 2015, AEL environment was tasked with sampling a stockpile of fill materials for a client hoping to regrade a future residential development.  The soil source site was coming from the excavation of a new condo site in Toronto. Preliminary test results from the site showed it did not meet the criteria for the receiving site due to salt impacts, a common occurrence in urban settings. In order to maximize the available fill material, the potentially salt impacted soil had been excavated approximately 4m down to native sandy clay, and AEL environment was asked to check this native material for suitability as fill. 

In order to expedite the work, we treated this as an in-situ stockpile and proceeded to take the required 75 soil samples for field screening purposes required for fill pile volumes of 1500 m3 or greater.  These numbers were determined by the regulations in place at the time, under O. Reg 153/04. Sampling was taken in a grid pattern, at various sampling depths over the entire source pile to ensure the soil samples accurately represented the site. Based on the screening results samples were selected for laboratory analysis which confirmed the site as suitable for clean fill.

All samples were field screened for VOCs and metals.  VOC screening was performed using a photoionization detector (PID); metals screening was performed using AEL’s  X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device for metals. This screening helped identify contaminated samples, with 15 confirmation samples sent to a CALA certified laboratory for analysis.

The material from this site was deemed to have met the client’s Site Standard for residential sites was successfully delivered to its new home.

If you are generating excess soil, or need surplus fill tested, please contact us to see how we can help ensure you are complying with current regulations.