Environmental Risk Assessment – DEV

An environmental risk assessment (ERA) evaluates how contaminants may affect human health and the environment, and it guides practical management decisions for remediation, development, and investment.
Active Earth completes human health and ecological risk assessments that are clear, defensible, and useful for regulatory and project decision making.

Our team assesses sites across sectors, reviews historical and current information, and conducts focused field programs to confirm pathways and potential effects. You receive a concise summary of risks, exposure pathways, and next steps that align with BC and federal expectations.

A well-scoped environmental risk assessment reduces uncertainty, protects property value, and prevents unnecessary management costs. It supports due diligence, helps meet regulator and lender requirements, and guides whether to proceed with remediation, risk management, or ongoing environmental monitoring.

Completing an ERA helps to:

• Identify priority exposure pathways that may impact health and environmental receptors 
• Focus testing on the chemicals that drive risk and potential effects 

Select cost-effective site responses, such as targeted remediation or long-term monitoring

Active Earth has completed risk assessments for more than 250 properties across Western Canada, including mine sites, pulp and saw mills, landfills, ports, rail and transportation facilities, telecommunications sites, and First Nations lands.

Records and Data Review

We analyze historical land use, prior assessments, and surrounding properties to flag potential sources, pathways, and receptors. Where applicable, we integrate hydrogeology and water movement understanding to outline contaminant fate and transport.

Targeted Field Investigation

We confirm assumptions with field data, sampling soil, groundwater, and surface water as needed, then screen exposure media for identified contaminants of concern.

Exposure Assessment

We evaluate exposure for workers, residents, and ecological receptors by pathway, including soil contact, groundwater ingestion, vapor, and surface water interaction where relevant.

Risk Characterization

We synthesize lines of evidence to estimate risk, identify primary drivers, and describe potential effects to human health and ecological receptors. The result is a transparent, science-based risk assessment that supports practical management actions.

Our team understands the BC Environmental Management Act and Contaminated Sites Regulation (CSR), along with federal guidance and local bylaw processes. We prepare Soil Relocation Notifications, site risk classifications, and related submissions where they intersect with ERA decisions.

ERA findings often support applications for legal instruments such as Approvals in Principle or Certificates of Compliance under BC’s CSR framework.

Active Earth also conducts Approved Professional reviews of risk assessments that support applications for these regulatory instruments in BC.

Goal: connect contaminants to receptors through credible pathways, then close or control those pathways with measured responses.

How We Translate ERA Into Actions

• Source and chemicals: Identify contaminants that drive risk and effects, refine analytes, and focus testing on drivers.
• Transport and fate in water and soil: Determine whether contaminants can reach receptors using hydrogeologic review, plume stability checks, and attenuation lines of evidence.
• Exposure routes: Quantify potential exposure for workers, residents, and ecological receptors across relevant pathways.
• Overall risk and uncertainty: Integrate data to produce a clear risk characterization with stated assumptions.
• Practical responses: Select targeted remediation, engineering controls, and environmental monitoring to keep the site safe and compliant.

This integrated risk analysis approach provides a defensible framework for managing environmental health concerns while supporting regulatory confidence.

Common Risk Drivers and Effects

• Petroleum hydrocarbons, solvents, metals, PAHs, and salts in soil and water
• Groundwater to surface water pathways near ditches, streams, or wetlands
• Vapor intrusion potential in buildings and confined spaces
• Environmental impacts on aquatic and riparian habitats where pathways exist

Our risk findings are supported by clear, practical management actions, such as targeted remediation, access control, and monitoring plans that meet project needs and regulatory expectations.

• Sectors served: commercial, industrial, transportation, municipal, and First Nations projects

• Scale: projects in city centres and remote locations across Western Canada

Integrated services: ERA, remediation planning, permitting, hydrogeology, and monitoring so your site can move forward with confidence

• Proven ERA delivery. More than 250 human health and ecological risk files completed across diverse facilities and land uses

• Regulatory fluency. Strong grasp of EMA, CSR, CCME, and local bylaw processes, with proven outcomes for related submissions
  
• Clear guidance. We translate technical findings into practical risk management options your team can act on, supported by concise reporting
  

If you need an environmental risk assessment in British Columbia, our team is ready to help with a scoped plan, schedule, and fees.

We align the work with your project decisions, compliance requirements, and long-term environmental management goals.

Call us today or request a quote online to get started on your environmental due diligence.