Environmental Engineering Applications Ontario College Graduate Certificate
ObjectivesThis program meets the demand for trained technologists and environmental scientists in the areas of "Brownfield" redevelopment, environmental monitoring, regulatory compliance and enforcement. It was developed in consultation with representatives from the environmental industry. The program is reviewed and updated by a Program Advisory Committee comprised of practitioners from the consulting, manufacturing, and public sectors.
Academic titleEnvironmental Engineering Applications Ontario College Graduate Certificate
Course descriptionLevel One
DRWG1880 Introduction to AutoCAD with Environmental Engineering Applications
Description: This course will introduce the basic AutoCAD skills required to create and edit drawings that typically accompany environmental reports. The student will edit existing site plans by adding environmental sampling locations, monitoring wells, identifying zones of soil contamination and groundwater plumes, and showing laboratory analysis data. The student will create hydrogeological cross-sections to scale using AutoCAD. The student will create schematic drawings showing various environmental remediation schemes. Plotting and printing of drawings to different scales is a requirement of this course.
Hours: 45
Credits: 3
ENVR2020 Site Remediation and Development
Description: This course studies the process required for the remediation and redevelopment of "Brownfield Sites" in the province of Ontario. The course provides and overview of the regulatory requirements associated with the Brownfield redevelopment process. The Phase I/II site assessment activities covered in detail in the Environmental Auditing and Site Assessment course is briefly reviewed and placed in context of the overall process. This course emphasizes Brownfield Site activities that occur after site assessment and characterization is complete.
The students will complete a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) for a case study site. The RAP will include identification of potential remedial technologies, evaluation of the technical, economic, social, regulatory, and implementability aspects of each technology, and the selection of a preferred technology to cleanup contaminated soils and groundwater at the study site.
The students will prepare tender specifications and drawings for the remediation of the study site. An evaluation of actual bids for an Brownfield Site remediation will be completed. The students will identify site management activities that are conducted during the construction phase pf Brownfield Site remediation. Mock scenarios will be used to demonstrate situations and issues that can arise during the construction phase.
This course studies the processes and activities that occur at both rehabilitated Brownfield Sites and Greenfield Sites. Particular emphasis is placed on environmental issues such as stormwater management and the impacts of development on groundwater resources.
Hours: 45
Credits: 3
ENVR3030 Field Methods in Environmental Engineering I
Description: This is a course dealing with the various field methods and equipment used in environmental engineering. The student will use accepted equipment and protocols to sample various media including soil, groundwater, surface water, sewer discharges, surface water, and sediment. The students will supervise the installation of a groundwater monitoring well, collect soil samples, prepare borehole logs, collect groundwater samples, perform hydraulic testing, measure stream flow rates, and collect sediment and surface water samples. Survey methods used in environmental work will be reviewed and practiced. QA/QC procedures are studied. The importance of record keeping, data logging, and data management to the legal aspects of environmental projects is emphasized.
Hours: 45
Credits: 3
ENVR3040 Hydrogeology I
Description: This course provides the student with a basic understanding of physical hydrogeology. The course covers basic physical hydrogeological concepts and definitions as they apply to environmental engineering applications. Concepts and definitions studied include hydraulic conductivity and fluid potential, Darcy's Law, groundwater flow equations, water table, capillary fringe, aquifers and aquitards, aquifer, piezometer testing, and pump testing. Precautions to be taken during the installation of groundwater monitoring and water supply wells are discussed. Major topics in this course include aquifer properties, groundwater flow, and groundwater resource evaluation.
Hours: 45
Credits: 3
ENVR3080 Environmental Auditing and Site Assessment
Description: The various types of environmental audits and site assessments are studied. The student is instructed in the tasks and activities associated with compliance audits, risk audits, environmental management system audits, Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessments. These activities include archival searches, site inspections, review of owner and regulatory files, and sample collection. The legislation relative to environmental audits and site assessments is reviewed. The legal aspects of buying and selling contaminated property in Ontario is discussed. The student will be required to complete an environmental compliance audit of the College as a major project.
Hours: 45
Credits: 3
ENVR8020 Environmental Legislation with Applications
Description: This provides a working knowledge of relevant environmental legislation at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels. Emphasis will be placed on the application of environmental laws and regulations to actual situations encountered by consultants, planners, municipalities, conservation authorities, industry and contractors. The course studies the relevance of environmental legislation to environmental issues including air and water quality, solid and hazardous waste management, site assessment and cleanup, emergency planning, spills and noise. The course will provide an understanding of the environmental approval processes and requirements, compliance assessment, cleanup criteria, site decommissioning, monitoring requirements, enforcement, penalties, liabilities, and reporting requirements. Case studies will be used extensively to demonstrate the application of environmental legislation.
Hours: 45
Credits: 3
ENVR8050 Environmental Project I
Description: The student will be required to complete an environmental project selected by the instructor. Environmental engineering concepts acquired through course work, work experience, and independent research will be used to address the technical, regulatory, social, and economic aspects of the project.
The student will be provided with background data and information simulating a scenario typically encountered by consultants, planners, municipalities, and regulatory bodies in the environmental industry. The project will be a Phase II Environmental Site Assessment of a property undergoing a zoning change from industrial to residential. A detailed proposal identifying the scope of work, technical approach, project team, schedule, and budget is a course requirement. The project findings will be presented in oral and written form.
Hours: 30
Credits: 2
ENVR8080 Water Quality
Description: Water chemistry principles are presented in a manner that relates to environmental applications. The course builds upon student’s existing knowledge of basic chemical principles (e.g. bonding, nomenclature, reactions). This course reviews the physical and chemical properties of water, water quality indicator parameters, concentration units, chemical equilibrium, oxidation-reduction reactions, acid/base reactions, gas laws and organic chemistry. These concepts will be applied to solving environmental engineering problems such as fate of contaminants. An understanding of water and waste-water treatment processes will be developed in the classroom and by inspecting local treatment plants. Laboratory and field measurements of key water quality properties will be conducted. The course will emphasize governmental regulations pertaining to water analysis and treatment. The course will prepare students to write the provincial water quality analyst and operator in training exams.
Hours: 45
Credits: 3
Level Two
CDEV1020 Co-op and Career Preparation
Description: This mandatory course prepares students for job searching for their co-op work terms and for post-graduate careers. Students will learn to critically evaluate their skills, attitudes, and expectations and evaluate and interpret available opportunities in the workplace. Self-marketing techniques using resumes, cover letters, cold-calls, and interviewing will be learned and students will learn the expectations, rules, and regulations that apply in the workplace with regards to social, organizational, ethical, and safety issues.
Hours: 16
Credits: 1
ENVR2010 Solid Waste Engineering & Management
Description: This course focuses on the application of technology for managing solid and hazardous waste. The student will be required to apply engineering technology to solve solid waste management issues encountered by industry, consultants, and municipalities. The classifications, characteristics and generation rates of solid waste are reviewed. Solid waste collection issues including collection techniques, routing, and transfer station siting are studied. The importance of recycling, reuse, reduction, and waste diversion techniques/initiatives in the management of solid wastes will be emphasized. Various disposal alternatives including incineration, composting and landfilling are investigated. Students will identify waste streams and waste reduction strategies used at selected industrial facilities.
The course covers the design of engineering controls for modern landfills in accordance with O.Reg. 232/98. The students will prepare a preliminary design of a modern landfill including liner, cap, leachate collection system, landfill gas control and utilization system, stormwater management system, and final grading plan. The generation, control, and potential utilization of landfill gas at landfill sites will be studied. Landfill operation issues, siting, monitoring requirements and final land use issues are studied.
The course includes field trips to complement classroom instruction. A field trip will be taken to an active landfill site where landfilling techniques, cover methods, leachate and gas control, waste diversion techniques, and household hazardous waste management techniques can be viewed. A field trip will be taken to a closed landfill site to demonstrate the operation of a landfill gas control system and to study the problems associated with a closed landfill. Field trips may also be taken to a used oil recycler and to select industrial facilities.
Hours: 60
Credits: 4
ENVR3060 Field Methods in Environmental Engineering II
Description: This is a practical hands-on course that provides instruction on the latest field methods used in environmental engineering. The student will use accepted protocols and equipment to sample asbestos and mould. Global Positioning System equipment will be used to identify sampling locations. The student will be able to accurately identify and classify geologic media in the field according to ASTM standards. The course studies the use of geophysics as a screening tool in environmental assessments. The students will install and sample stream bed piezometers. The students will conduct indoor air quality sampling. The students will conduct landfill gas probe monitoring at a local landfill. The students will participate in a mock asbestos removal demonstration.
Students will receive training in the field methods employed during environmental cleanups including jar headspace analysis, waste management regulation slump testing and confirmatory sampling requirements. The course emphasizes the application of the concepts learned through the use of labs, field exercises, field demonstrations, and field trips. A field trip will be taken to a local environmental analysis laboratory.
Hours: 45
Credits: 3
Pre-Requisites: ENVR3030
ENVR3070 Hazardous Waste Site Worker Training
Description: Most environmental consulting firms and environmental contractors require field personnel to receive health and safety training. This course provides comprehensive health and safety training for work on hazardous waste sites. The training will be provided by a qualified instructor and will meet OSHA 29 CFR 1910.120 40 hours training requirements.
The course will identify the nature of various hazards on these sites including chemical exposure, fire and explosion, oxygen deficiency, biological, physical and electrical hazards, heat stress, exposure and noise. The student will be instructed in site control, safe work practices, decontamination procedures, site emergencies and response procedures. Training will be provided in the use of field monitoring equipment and personal protective equipment.
Hours: 40
Credits: 3
ENVR8010 Hydrogeology II
Description: This course studies the behaviour, movement, and control of contaminants in groundwater. Common causes and prevention of groundwater contamination are discussed. Basic physical and chemical hydrogeological principles are used to predict contaminant behaviour and movement in groundwater. An introduction to the behaviour and movement of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) is presented.
Hours: 45
Credits: 3
Pre-Requisites: ENVR3040
ENVR8070 Environmental Project II
Description: The course requires the completion of an environmental project selected by the student and approved by the instructor. Environmental engineering concepts acquired through course work, work experience, and independent research will be used to address the technical, regulatory, social, and economic issues associated with the project.
Project topics will be developed in consultation with professionals from the environmental industry. For each project topic, a professional from industry will act as a mentor throughout the duration of the course. The mentor will provide their project team with advice and technical expertise and will meet with the project team approximately 1 hour/week.
Typical projects could include the development of a waste diversion/minimization program, waste audit, implementation of ISO 14000, development of a site decommissioning plan, landfill liner design, landfill gas and leachate control system design, design/optimization of a waste collection system, environmental compliance assessment, assessment of cleanup technologies, evaluation of water supply alternatives.
A detailed proposal identifying the scope of work, technical approach, project team, schedule, and budget is a course requirement. The project findings will be presented in oral and written form.
Hours: 45
Credits: 3
Pre-Requisites: ENVR8050
ENVR8090 Risk Assessment
Description: General microbiology principles are presented in a manner that relates to environmental engineering applications. The course discusses the various classification of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, algae, protozoa) and discusses the importance of each to environmental engineering applications. The various techniques used for the bioremediation of contaminated soils and groundwater are studied.
Hours: 30
Credits: 2
ENVR8100 Air Quality
The origin, fate, measurement and control of various types of air pollutants are studied in this course. The course reviews the fundamental gas laws and units used to measure air pollution. The origin of various types of air pollutants is outlined. Air pollution problems on the macro scale (acid rain, ozone depletion, greenhouse effect) and the meso-scale (local industrial pollution) are introduced.
The methods and protocols used in the measurement of air quality and sampling of emission sources are presented.
Meteorological conditions affecting air quality are discussed. Factors affecting and the methods used to model the dispersion of air pollutants are studied. The student will be instructed in the use of regulatory dispersion modelling programs to predict pollutant concentrations at downwind receptor points.
Regulatory aspects of air quality issues are covered including approvals, compliance, testing, and enforcement.
Various air pollution control technologies are studied including absorption, adsorption, incineration, cyclones, filters, electrostatic precipitation, and biofiltration. Aspects of indoor air quality and noise will also be introduced.
Hours: 60
Credits: 4
Level Three
COOP1110 Co-op Work Term I (Environmental)
Description: This course will provide students with college-approved work experience with an employer in the environmental industry. This course will increase the student's understanding of employer expectations with regards to attitudinal, practical, and academic skills. These skill areas will be improved during the work term while the student responsibly performs the duties as defined in the job description, in accordance with course and program outcomes. Student development will be evaluated during and at the conclusion of the work experience.
Hours: 420
Credits: 14