Pierre River Mine Project

WATER ERCB SIRS 46 – 79
Section 7.1
• defining control limits (or trigger values) for each key indicator parameter for
each monitoring well
• evaluating the monitoring results for trends in parameter concentrations and
exceedance of the control limits for each monitoring well. If a trend is
identified, the monitoring well will be closely tracked and the possible causes
for the observed trend will be reviewed. If the control limits are exceeded,
the initiation of the groundwater response plan will be triggered.
• reporting the groundwater monitoring results and trend analysis to AENV
through the annual groundwater monitoring reports
Groundwater Response Plan
The groundwater response plan would consist of the following steps:
1. Verification
2. Confirmation
3. Delineation
4. Evaluation
5. Mitigation
1. Verification
Once a parameter concentration above the control limit has been identified, the
initial phase is to review all available information to more fully understand the
issue. Verification involves confirming the analytical results, i.e., review
laboratory QA/QC, laboratory verification of results and re-analysis; reviewing
sampling QA/QC procedures, reviewing well integrity, and reviewing historical
data.
Many of these steps are conducted for routine groundwater monitoring, i.e.,
review field and laboratory QA/QC results and well integrity, but the
Groundwater Response Plan requires specific detailed analysis and
documentation of the process. If the suspect data point is found to be correct, it
will trigger the confirmation phase of the response plan.
2. Confirmation
The objective of this phase is to confirm that the observed concentration is not an
outlier. Once a parameter concentration above the control limit has been verified,
the exceedance should be confirmed by additional sampling. As well, the
groundwater sampling frequency should be increased to quarterly to allow for
confirmation of recorded concentrations and for reviewing surrounding
groundwater conditions and possible sources for the effects observed. The
outcome of the confirmation step should be that:
• if the parameter concentration remains above the control limit for three
consecutive quarterly sampling events, an incident will be deemed to have
occurred. This will trigger the delineation phase.
7-10 Shell Canada Limited April 2010
CR029