Dr. Edmund Rodrigues

With great sadness we announce that Dr. Edmund (Ed) Rodrigues passed away on June 17, 2015. Ed had an extraordinary career that encompassed so much and he will be sorely missed by family, friends and co-workers. Ed joined AECOM (legacy URS Canada Inc.) in January 2012 as a senior environmental consultant. For seven years prior to joining AECOM, Ed was with Canadian-based engineering and environmental consulting firm Golder Associates Ltd. Before that, Ed enjoyed a successful career spanning over 25 years in policy development, site assessment and environmental approvals with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

For more than 10 years, Ed participated in the Ministry’s site decommissioning program through the development of guidelines and public consultation documents on management of excess soil (1996 Guideline for Use at Contaminated Sites in Ontario; and brownfields legislative initiatives from 2001 to 2005).

Ed played a key role in the development of Ontario Regulation (O. Reg.) 153/04, including the Record of Site Condition requirements; preparation of technical guidance manuals; and protocols for soil and groundwater testing and analysis. He was a Ministry representative on the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Technical Committee responsible for releasing the CSA Phase I (Z768/01) and Phase II (Z769/00) Environmental Site Assessment standards, now adopted under O. Reg. 153/04. Additionally, Ed was retained by the Ministry to assist in developing guidance and training materials for practitioners conducting environmental site assessments and risk assessments in Ontario.

Several of the projects Ed worked on were subject to a high level of public scrutiny: PCB contamination clean-up, radioactive waste removal and clean-up at an abandoned mine, as well as coal tar contamination clean-up of a public park. He also testified as an expert witness in hydrogeology regarding proposed residential developments adjacent to industrial landfills and other industrial sites.

Throughout the course of his career, Ed enjoyed passing along his vast store of knowledge to new generations by teaching undergraduate courses in hydrogeology and earth sciences at the Universities ofWaterloo and Toronto, and was recently a part-time professor at George Brown College. He was also a wonderful mentor and resource for AECOM employees as well as for many other environmental consultants.

Ed was a kind, down-to-earth person who was easy to work with. He possessed a confidence and wealth of technical knowledge that was both comforting and reassuring to his co-workers. Ed had a passion for the environment and could always be approached to discuss project issues; he most definitely contributed to the betterment of Ontario’s environment. Ed will be missed greatly by the environmental consulting community at large, but his loss will be most keenly felt by the environmental group at the Richmond Hill Office in Ontario. He is survived by his wife, Antonia, and four children.

See Edmund Rodrigues' Tribute page

Edmund is the brother of Edwin and Veronica Rodrigues