Public Comment Period on Intent to Make a Determination
Fuel Facility Oil Water Separator Replacement – 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown

January 29, 2026 — The Department of National Defence must decide whether the proposed project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this decision, the Department of National Defence is inviting comments from the public on the project and its potential effects on the environment. All comments received will be considered public. For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice on the Registry website.

Written comments must be submitted by February 7, 2026 to:

Gabriel Picard, Mechanical Engineer, Real Property Operations Detachment (Gagetown)
Mailing Address:  PO BOX 17000 Stn Forces, Oromocto
New Brunswick, Canada, E2V 4J5
E-mail:  gabriel.picard2@forces.gc.ca

The Proposed Project

The Department of National Defence (DND) is proposing a project. The project consists of a preventive replacement of the garrison fuel station (AKA: Shirley Rd Fuel Facility, building L60) oil water separator (OWS) equipment which is approaching the end of its service life; during annual internal inspection of the OWS, observable deformation of the shell was noticed. The OWS double wall interstice vacuum monitoring gauge however confirms the OWS integrity has not been compromised at this point, but a replacement of the equipment is preferable as a preventive measure. Such project will require excavation on an area of about 60 m² including roughly 200 m³ of disturbed material (mostly type 3 aggregate and type 5 gravel). The project itself is not intended to modify in anyway current infrastructure of the fuel station, intent is a simple return to original condition of the site rain water drainage equipment. L60 OWS is an important equipment in prevention of "release" as defined under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA), the OWS offers an emergency hydrocarbon product retention capacity of 20,000 L for any petroleum product entering the site storm water drainage system, therefore represents a considerable mitigation factor towards eventual incidents at the facility keeping almost all cases into the category of "spill" not reaching the environment rather than "release" reportable to the authority having jurisdiction.

In addition to the OWS replacement the OWS effluent lift station will be increased in capacity to align with flow rate requirements from most recent data on possible rainfall in the area.