hydrocarbons · Northwest Territories

Hydrocarbon Remediation in the Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories regulates contaminated site remediation under the GNWT's Environmental Guideline for Contaminated Site Remediation[1], administered within the territory's contaminated sites management framework[2]. A large share of the territorial inventory is federal: legacy military sites, former radar installations, and federal fuel infrastructure fall under the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan[3].

Diesel is the dominant contaminant driver in the territory: power generation, heating fuel, and aviation fuel storage across remote communities produce hydrocarbon-impacted soil that is expensive to haul south and difficult to landfill locally. On-site thermal destruction removes that logistics burden and the long-term liability with it.

Thermal remediation services

How Nelson destroys hydrocarbons

Hydrocarbon-impacted soil is one of the most common, and most mishandled, remediation streams on the continent. The default in many jurisdictions is still excavate and haul to landfill, which moves the carbon liability downstream rather than resolving it, and increasingly fails the permanence test regulators apply at closure.

Nelson operates the RS-series mobile thermal desorption fleet engineered to drive hydrocarbon-impacted soil to the temperatures and residence times required to volatilize and destroy the hydrocarbon fraction, with off-gas routed through a high-temperature oxidizer and engineered treatment train. Clean soil is returned to the site, with confirmation sampling and a destruction record the regulator can close the file against.

The same physics that destroys hydrocarbons destroys dioxins, fly ash residues, and the carbon-fluorine bonds in PFAS. Hydrocarbon work is the deepest part of Nelson's portfolio and the foundation of the equipment platform.

Proof: Nelson's hydrocarbon destruction track record includes the Tioga, North Dakota cleanup (verified clean-soil return on a high-profile crude release) and the Bear Hills, Alberta program (multi-award-winning thermal remediation at scale). Project documentation is linked from the Projects index.

hydrocarbons · Northwest Territories

Scope a hydrocarbon project in Northwest Territories.

Send the matrix, approximate volume, location, and cleanup criteria. Nelson will identify the treatment route, evidence requirements, and practical next step.

Thermal remediation services

1.888.960.8222

Operational reach in the Northwest Territories

Nelson's mobile thermal fleet is engineered for exactly this environment: self-contained systems staged at the source site, with remote deployment experience that includes American Samoa and northern Canada. NWT mobilization is planned around road, winter road, and barge windows and confirmed at scoping.

Frequently asked

Can thermal equipment reach remote NWT communities?
Yes. The RS-series systems are mobile and self-contained, and Nelson's project record includes remote international deployments with full logistics coordination. Winter road and barge windows are planned at scoping.
Do federal sites in the NWT follow a different process?
Federal contaminated sites are managed under FCSAP[3] with the territorial guideline as the remediation reference[1]. Nelson works within the custodian's process either way.
Why destroy on site instead of hauling south?
Hauling hydrocarbon-impacted soil out of the NWT is costly and transfers liability rather than ending it. On-site destruction treats the soil where it sits and closes the file under the territorial guideline[1].

Scope a project in Northwest Territories

Send a brief description of the site, contaminant profile, and volume. Nelson responds within one business day with a scoping call and pricing envelope.

Toll-free 1.888.320.9714

Canada HQ 1.780.960.3660

Qualified enquiry

Tell us about your site in Northwest Territories

Send the contaminant profile, approximate tonnage, and site location. Nelson will respond with the route that fits and the evidence needed to verify it.

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Treatment approach · By contaminant

Petroleum HydrocarbonsThe full spectrum of petroleum-derived organic compounds — crude oil, condensate, diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, and bunker fuel — reported analytically as total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in gasoline-range (C6–C10), diesel-range (C10–C28), and heavy-range (C28–C40) fractions.

BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, Xylenes)The four aromatic hydrocarbon compounds — benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and the three xylene isomers — that dominate gasoline plumes and drive risk-based cleanup at UST and refinery sites because of benzene's carcinogenicity and low regulatory threshold.

DNAPL and LNAPL (Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids)Free-phase organic liquids that do not fully dissolve in water and act as long-term source zones for dissolved plumes — DNAPL (denser than water: TCE, PCE, creosote, coal tar) pools below the water table; LNAPL (lighter than water: gasoline, diesel, jet fuel) floats on it.

Chlorinated VOCs (CVOCs)Chlorinated volatile organic compounds: a family of chlorinated solvents including TCE, PCE, vinyl chloride, and DCE that migrate readily in soil vapor and groundwater and require chemical, biological, or thermal treatment.

Chlorinated Solvents (TCE, PCE, TCA, DCE, VC)Man-made chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons — tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA), cis-1,2-DCE, and vinyl chloride — that formed the industrial degreasing and dry-cleaning solvent market for four decades and left the densest DNAPL groundwater plumes in North America.

In-Situ Chemical Oxidation (ISCO)In-situ chemical oxidation: injection of a chemical oxidant — permanganate, persulfate, or Fenton's reagent — directly into contaminated soil or groundwater to destroy dissolved-phase organic contaminants without excavation.

Regulator sources

[1]GNWT Environmental Guideline for Contaminated Site Remediation

[2]GNWT Approach to Contaminated Sites Management

[3]Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP)

All Capabilities

More from Nelson

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  • Soil Physical Recovery After Thermal Desorption: 2016 JEQ Evidence
  • Wheat Productivity and Grain Safety on Thermally Treated Soil: 2017 JEQ Evidence
  • Cation Exchange Behaviour of Thermally Treated Soil: 2017 SSSAJ Evidence
  • N-Cycling Gene Recovery and Topsoil Blending on Thermally Treated Soil: 2017 NDSU Thesis

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