Properties

Bell owns more than 3,600 properties across which are situated cellular towers, office buildings, vehicle maintenance centres or small huts that house power, switching and transmission equipment. Our central offices are used equally for telecommunication equipment and employee work space. We have environmental programs in place to minimize the effects of our operations on our surroundings.

Promoting Biodiversity

In 2002 and ahead of legislation, we implemented a vegetation management policy under which we stopped using pesticides on our properties for aesthetic reasons. Weeds and other vegetation around our properties are controlled using organic lawn care, alternative landscaping and site naturalization.

In 2005, we concluded a study which will be used to develop a long-term ecological landscaping strategy for the company.

Site Assessments

Environmental site assessments are performed primarily to assess environmental conditions when we buy, lease or sell properties or when contamination is suspected. Our previous or current activities, as well as those of former property owners, may have led to soil and water contamination at certain company sites. Sources of contamination may include: snow deposits, petroleum products, pole storage, and leaks from damaged equipment. We conduct environmental site assessments and remediation projects where necessary to minimize soil and groundwater contamination.

Environmental site assessments greatly reduce our exposure to environmental liabilities and allow us to exercise due diligence in our approach, while meeting the requirements of applicable legislation. In addition to assessing existing contamination, we identify and assess recent activities that could potentially contaminate sites. When contaminants exceed applicable government criteria, we proceed with remediation in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. Bell uses its telecommunications network and leading-edge environmental remediation technology to ensure activities are monitored at selected sites.

As a result of better environmental management of our assets over the years, combined with an increase in site assessments and characterizations, we have been able to minimize liabilities associated with soil contamination.

We performed 77 projects to assess, characterize or remediate sites in 2005:

*Includes 82 assessments at Bell Nordiq, 42 at Bell West and 11 at BCE Nexxia Corp.
**Phase 1 conducted at 360networks recently acquired by Bell West

• In 2005, site assessments and characterizations were mainly conducted during property transactions, or to ensure that all soil was properly remediated in an area following leaks or spills of petroleum products.
• In addition, site remediation activities were conducted following the removal of underground petroleum equipment or as a result of spills of petroleum products.
• Overall, site remediation activities have decreased by 50% since 2002, due in large part to the sound management across the company of our petroleum-related equipment.

PETROLEUM-RELATED EQUIPMENT

We use a total of 2,140 underground and aboveground tanks on our properties to store various petroleum products including diesel and heating oil. These products are used to run stand-by generators which operate telecom equipment in the event of power outages, and to heat or cool buildings. Automobile lubricants are used in our vehicle fleet, and waste oil is kept in storage tanks. Hydraulic hoists and oil/water separators are used in fleet maintenance centres.

The prevention of leaks and accidental spills of petroleum products is facilitated through a number of programs, as well as through the modernization of our equipment and a rigid equipment inspection process.

Modernization

In 2005, we continued to modernize our underground and aboveground petroleum-related equipment:

• Replacing underground storage tanks (UST) with aboveground tanks (AST) wherever possible. Today, 84% of all storage tanks are now aboveground.

• Continuing work to replace underground steel tanks with new tanks constructed of double-wall, non-corrosive fibreglass and equipped with high-tech monitoring and alarm systems that allow us to act quickly in the event of leaks. Except for Northwestel, which has only three underground steel tanks, all single-wall underground steel tanks have been replaced.
• Replacing aboveground, single-wall storage tanks located outside buildings and containing more than 4,000 litres of petroleum products with double-wall tanks. Fewer than 25 tanks remain to be upgraded, all within our newly integrated subsidiaries.
• Removing all gasoline dispenser tanks and associated piping that were used to fuel our vehicle fleet.
• Installing 17 overfill protection and spill containment boxes for underground storage tanks with a capacity larger than 5,100 litres, and for aboveground storage tanks larger than 2,500 litres. The number of devices installed falls short of our 2005 target of 36 devices because of budget constraints. Under this program, a total of 50 devices in Québec have been progressively installed to meet provincial objectives or as a preventive measure.

Preventive Inspection

We have a private, government-approved inspection program for petroleum-related equipment located in Québec that has been renewed for the 2006-2010 period. Under this program, all storage tanks are inspected every year and preventive maintenance is done as required; databases are verified and updated quarterly and leak tests are performed. Similar controls are applied to petroleum-related equipment in all other provinces. Compliance audits are scheduled annually for high risk tanks, followed by upgrade and modernization programs, as required.

Inspection and maintenance are conducted for all hydraulic hoists and oil/water separators annually, and upgrades are planned as required.

Incident response

In addition to emphasizing the prevention of leaks and spills we also adopt a systematic approach to deal with environmental incidents when they occur, and to clean up and restore soil that may have been contaminated by leaks and spills.