CCIL News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

EDMONTON, ALBERTA (February 11, 2019) – Two scientists with the Alberta Ministry of Environment and Parks have been named this year’s Leadership Award winners by the Canadian Council of Independent Laboratories (CCIL).

Mr. Gordon Dinwoodie and Dr. Norman Sawatsky, both with the Ministry’s Land Conservation and Reclamation Policy Section, are to be honoured today with the CCIL Leadership Award for their outstanding efforts in helping to safeguard the public and the environment.

“Mr. Dinwoodie and Dr. Sawatsky have worked closely with our industry over many years to ensure that accurate, reliable and practical testing methods are used in assessing regulatory compliance,” says CCIL President Mr. Gordon Leaman.

“Their open and consultative approach has helped foster a strong collaborative relationship between government and the private-sector testing industry,” Mr. Leaman notes. “And because of this partnership, Alberta has the protocols and procedures in place to effectively monitor and protect the environment.”

The awards presentation will take place:
WHEN: Monday, Feb. 11, 2019
Luncheon at noon, Presentation at 12:30 p.m.

WHERE: Union Bank Inn
Devonshire Room
10053 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton

Ministry officials (including Mr. Dinwoodie and Dr. Sawatsky) and CCIL representatives meet at least annually as members of the Alberta Laboratory Committee, and they consult on an ongoing basis as required throughout the year. Some of the successes resulting from this collaboration have included the development of:

• The Biogenic Interference Calculation (BIC) Index which helps distinguish soils contaminated by oil spills from those with naturally occurring hydrocarbons.
• Appropriate sampling techniques for volatile hydrocarbons in soil.
• A standard procedure for analyzing a small set of halogenated aliphatics that typically could not be determined at trace levels.

Mr. Dinwoodie is a land reclamation specialist and professional agrologist. In his work with the Ministry, he develops policies for land reclamation and remediation, and land application of industrial and municipal by-products. He is also the chair of the Canadian Council for Ministers of the Environment (CCME) Contaminated Sites Working Group, which develops contaminated site assessment and remediation guidelines for use
across Canada.

Dr. Sawatsky is a contaminated sites specialist and risk assessment specialist with Alberta Environment and Parks where he has worked for the past 20 years. Currently a contaminated sites policy advisor for the Ministry, his work has included, among other initiatives, development of the Alberta Tier 1 and Tier 2 Guidelines, the Alberta Contaminated Sites Policy Framework, and recently the revised Remediation Regulation.

About CCIL
CCIL represents the independent, private-sector laboratories in Canada. Operating more than 460 laboratory facilities across the country, members provide a broad array of testing services that help protect the health and safety of Canadians.

In Alberta, CCIL members operate 20 environmental testing facilities. Their services include: testing drinking water, waste water, effluents, soil and sediment, air, emissions, and biota (plant tissue, fish, animal, biological fluids); environmental impact assessment and permit monitoring analysis; site assessment and remediation analysis; occupational hygiene consulting and analysis; waste characterization; and quality audits.

To learn more about CCIL, visit us at www.ccil.com. Photos of Mr. Gordon Dinwoodie and Dr. Norman Sawatsky can also be downloaded from the website.

Media contact:
Megan Stephens
PR POST
416-777-0368
megan@prpost.ca