Field Support for Air Monitoring at Point Petre, Ontario

1. Title: Field Support for Air Monitoring at Point Petre, Ontario

2. Background

The Air Quality Processes Research Section of Environment and Climate Change Canada undertakes the monitoring of pollutants in air and precipitation at the Great Lakes Monitoring site of Point Petre, Ontario under ECCC’s Chemicals Management Plan. This project also supports the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. It also contributes to the Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network (IADN) and is a comparison site used to compare with the United Stated Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) grantee. The objective of this Contract is to assist Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Air Quality Processes Research Section in the field support for the operation of the monitoring site at Point Petre, herein referred to as the Site for pollutants (including persistent organochlorines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, flame retardants, Polychlorinated biphenyls, metals, and other emerging chemicals of concern) in accordance with the Statement of Work detailed herein.

This project has been operating at the Site since 1989. The Contractor must ensure consistency in the operation and the resulting dataset to maintain the long-term time trends of target contaminants at the Site.

3. Terminology:

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)

Great Lakes Basin (GLB)

Polyfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)

Polyurethane foam (PUF)

Standard operating procedures (SOPs)

United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)

4. Scope of Work

The Contractor must conduct monitoring sampling and maintain the Site in support of the GLB monitoring program and the IADN. This includes maintenance and upkeep of the site as well as the operation and general maintenance of air quality instrumentation.

The Contractor must:

1. Collect samples from one organics PUF hi-vol sampler, one organics XAD (a polymeric sorbent) hi-vol sampler, one PM10 hi-vol sampler plus it’s back-up, and four (4) precipitation samplers, as per Attachment 1 and SOP’s;
2. Track and document all sampling media received, field information, meteorological conditions, and sampling conditions for samples collected;
3. Prepare and ship samples to the analysis laboratories, as well as receiving sampling media;
4. Communicate with the Technical Authority regarding sampling conditions, maintenance issues, equipment functionality, security issues, and any other conditions that pertain to the operation of the Site and the program. The Contractor must be available for an audit by the Technical Authority one time per year. Communication will be carried out by face to face meetings and by telephone and emails as required;
5. Calibrate the high-volume samplers twice per year;
6. Provide general maintenance and small repairs of sampling equipment; and
7. Provide maintenance of the property.

5. Location:

The Site is located at the 324 Point Petre Road in Milford, Ontario. Point Petre is a small peninsula on the eastern end of Lake Ontario, about 160 km east of Toronto and approximately 85 km north of Rochester, NY. The Site is located on a 25 acre parcel of land on the southern tip of Prince Edward County. The samplers are located on a 20 by 20 meter wood deck approximately 50 meters from the lake, in a cleared area of roughly 37 meters in diameter.

6. Schedule:

Sampling Schedule:

High-volume samples (organics, V1, and XAD) must be taken on a 1 in 36-day schedule (requiring presence on site to put on the sample, and then presence on site the next day to remove). V2 high-volume samples, used as a duplicate for quality control purposes, must be taken with every 6th V1 sample. Blanks for organics and PM10 (V1) high-volume samplers must be taken every 72 days. Precipitation samples must be taken on the first day of the month. After 20 mm of rain, the bottles on the organics precipitation collector (dichloromethane) must be changed to prevent over-flow, and shipped to the analysis laboratory.

7. ECCC Will Provide the Contractor:

Reference Material:

1. All Standard Operating Procedures required to perform the Work.

Equipment

1. Monitoring equipment required to perform the Work

2. Maintenance equipment required to perform the Work

3. Replacement parts for equipment

Training

On-site training in established GLB protocols will be provided by ECCC staff. The training will take place over a three day period, after which the Contractor will be assessed.

Shipping

ECCC is responsible for all shipping costs associated with the Work.

8. Contractor Responsibilities:

It is the Contractor’s responsibility to notify the Technical Authority if any unforeseeable circumstances arise that would lead to or interfere with the Contractor completing any of the required tasks. The Contractor can propose alternative solutions, to meet the requirements of this Contract, for the approval of the Technical Authority. Every effort should be made to adhere to the schedule; however, the schedule may be changed by several days in case of inability to access the site due to safety reasons, equipment breakdown, or other reasons as approved by the Technical Authority. Overall, the contract must collect the total number of samples as outlined in Attachment 1.

The Contractor must prepare summaries of activities to support claims for payment.

The Contractor must have the means to communicate by phone and e-mail with the Environment Canada representative in a timely manner.