Profile: Dan Sonmor

Protecting Canadians from hazardous substances

Every day, Dan Sonmor puts his education and his passion for environmental sciences to work protecting Canadians and his colleagues from potential hazards.

As a senior environmental specialist with Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), Dan has the task of investigating and cleaning up government-owned contaminated properties in Canada’s Western region.

“My main functions revolve around remediating federally owned contaminated sites in Western Canada,” Dan says. “This can include such issues as hydrocarbon and heavy metal impacts, unexploded ordnances and the environmental assessment of seized properties.”

The Environmental Services section of PWGSC, where Dan works, handles property issues for all other federal departments, including indoor air quality, mould and asbestos investigations, and upgrades to ventilation systems.

Environmental safety

“We ensure that the facilities and properties that our colleagues work in are environmentally safe and are not contributing harmful substances to the environment,” Dan explains.

One of Dan’s biggest clean-up projects began in 1995 on large tracts of land that PWGSC inherited from National Defence near Churchill, Manitoba. “I started working with environmental assessments to determine the extent of known contamination on the lands.”

“Although most of the contamination issues dealt with hydrocarbons, a couple of the properties had much more interesting challenges. One was unexploded bombs ranging from 50-pound mortars to 2,000-pound aerials left over from the Cold War. The other was an unconfined dump being used by the local community.”

Hands-on work

“When in the field I am very hands-on, so that means I will be there collecting soil, water and air samples, digging test pits, inspecting facilities, interviewing people—you name it. Very rarely do I sit back and watch others work—even when I am supposed to.”

Loves the travel

Dan says that “the best part of my job is the opportunity to see parts of Canada that are not accessible to a large majority of Canadians. The geography, scenery, people and wildlife that I have been exposed to are awesome.”

Dan’s main source of job satisfaction, however, is knowing that he is protecting Canadians from hazardous substances.

“I know that what I do really does make a difference,” he says. “The words of thanks I get from the people and workers in the communities help keep the drive alive.”

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