Golder was retained as prime contractor to provide environmental planning and permitting, environmental site assessment (ESA), and geotechnical services for installation of approximately 11 kilometers of new natural gas pipeline between the City of Toronto and the City of Vaughan.
Upon regulatory approval, Golder provided environmental construction support including wildlife, water quality, and noise assessment and monitoring. This included mitigating and monitoring for migratory birds and raptor nests, amphibian salvage activities, and undertaking emergency surveys for a bat species at risk. Non-intrusive bird surveys were performed, and active nests were monitored to determine when construction could resume.
Golder also conducted noise and vibration monitoring during construction near sensitive residences, and contaminated site assessment and remediation along the portion of the right-of-way during construction.
The King’s North Connection project is located in a relatively congested area of Ontario, with numerous local, provincial, and national stakeholders, including the Ministry of Transportation Ontario, 407 Express Toll Route, Canadian Pacific, Canadian National Railway, local conservation authorities, and the Ministry of the Environment. Golder assisted in managing these complexities by utilizing its understanding of the execution of field work within the local market, and its local experience and network to ensure satisfactory work completion.
The largest risks to the project during the planning phase were time constraints and lack of land access to complete field work. To address this, Golder developed a strategy to undertake tasks concurrently to optimize time and meet the aggressive National Energy Board (NEB) filing date. We also mobilized field programs multiple times as land became available to capture as much data as possible for reporting and permit applications. This ensured information requirements were met.
