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Swan Hills Treatment Center: PCBs and PCDD/F in wild game and fish tissue (1999-2014)

Description

The Swan Hills Treatment Centre (SHTC) is a facility for the safe disposal of special wastes located approximately 12 km northeast of the town of Swan Hills, AB. On October 16, 1996, a malfunction... More ≫

Description

The Swan Hills Treatment Centre (SHTC) is a facility for the safe disposal of special wastes located approximately 12 km northeast of the town of Swan Hills, AB. On October 16, 1996, a malfunction of a transformer furnace was discovered to have caused the release of a portion of process gases containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) into the ambient air. These chemicals can be harmful to human health. Therefore, in 1997 Alberta Health (AH) conducted a human health risk assessment study to estimate human exposure and to evaluate the effectiveness of public health interventions. As a result of the study, food consumption advice for wild game and fish taken within a 30 km radius of the facility were issued out of concern that PCBs and PCDD/Fs were accumulating in these locally caught foods. A long-term environmental monitoring and human exposure assessment program has been ongoing since 1998 to monitor concentrations of...

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Looking upstream : a 5-year review of Alberta’s monitoring, evaluation, and reporting (MER) plan for lotic systems

Description

This report provides a summary of activities conducted between 2016 and 2021 under A Five-Year Provincial Water Quality Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Plan for Lotic Systems (Kerr and Cooke... More ≫

Description

This report provides a summary of activities conducted between 2016 and 2021 under A Five-Year Provincial Water Quality Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Plan for Lotic Systems (Kerr and Cooke 2019). An overview of this first river water quality monitoring, evaluation and reporting plan is provided, along with an evaluation of key metrics of the program, including sampling details, parameters monitored, and quality assurance/quality control efforts. The report presents summary findings and identifies ongoing gaps related to scientific questions. Key issues and improvements are recommended for consideration in the development of the next monitoring, evaluation and reporting plan.

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Alberta Environment and Protected Areas Indigenous Lake monitoring program evaluation report

Description

The Indigenous Lake Monitoring Program (ILMP) was developed in response to Indigenous communities’ concerns about the quality of lakes of local importance as well as the Community-Based Monitoring... More ≫

Description

The Indigenous Lake Monitoring Program (ILMP) was developed in response to Indigenous communities’ concerns about the quality of lakes of local importance as well as the Community-Based Monitoring & Knowledge teams’ mandate to explore opportunities to work together with Indigenous communities to advance environmental stewardship. The ILMP aims to support and enable stewardship and management of Alberta’s lakes based on the best available Indigenous and scientific knowledge. From 2016-21, staff from CBM&K, Watershed Sciences and Watershed Monitoring units within the Airshed & Watershed Stewardship Branch worked with community technicians from four First Nations (Bigstone Cree Nation, Cold Lake First Nations, Whitefish Lake First Nation, Dene Tha' First Nation) to collect and report on water chemistry, physical measurements, and biological samples on seven lakes in Northern Alberta. The ILMP Evaluation Report summarizes the findings of an independent evaluation of the ILMP...

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Evaluation of quality control data from Alberta’s lotic water monitoring programs : 2016-2019

Description

This report investigates the bias and variability of data generated from the Long Term River Network (LTRN) and Tributary Monitoring Network (TMN) programs. In total, 323 field blank samples and... More ≫

Description

This report investigates the bias and variability of data generated from the Long Term River Network (LTRN) and Tributary Monitoring Network (TMN) programs. In total, 323 field blank samples and 318 duplicate samples were taken from nearly 100 stations across the province of Alberta. Data analyses relate these QC samples to 4,482 provincial LTRN and TMN environmental samples taken between January 2016 and December 2019. There was a wide range of potential contamination (i.e. bias) and variability evident in the parameters monitored in the TMN and LTRN programs. Data end-users should be cognizant of this potential bias and variability in data generated by the LTRN and TMN programs. Parameters with low environmental concentrations, elevated potential for extraneous contamination and/or high variability should be interpreted with caution.

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2016 MAML Horse River Wildfire Hourly Data

Description

Hourly data collected by Alberta Environment and Parks using a mobile atmospheric monitoring laboratory (MAML) as part of emergency response monitoring during the 2016 Horse River Wildfire.

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Wabasca Lake Monitoring Project results report

Description

The Wabasca Lake Monitoring Pilot Project is part of the Indigenous Lake Monitoring Program of Alberta’s provincial Lake Monitoring Program. The project was initiated in response to community... More ≫

Description

The Wabasca Lake Monitoring Pilot Project is part of the Indigenous Lake Monitoring Program of Alberta’s provincial Lake Monitoring Program. The project was initiated in response to community interest in water quality and concern for fish health, and was carried out in collaboration with the Lands Department of Bigstone Cree Nation and Alberta Environment and Parks. The goals of the project were to address gaps in water quality knowledge and information for North Wabasca Lake, and provide aquatic monitoring training in scientific sampling methodology to Bigstone Cree Nation.

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Memorandum of Understanding respecting environmental monitoring of oil sands development

Description

Establishes the mutual intentions of the Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada regarding collaboration and accountability for the design and implementation of an integrated... More ≫

Description

Establishes the mutual intentions of the Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada regarding collaboration and accountability for the design and implementation of an integrated monitoring, evaluation and reporting system that includes the acquisition and reporting of regional data on baseline environmental conditions, tracking of environmental impacts, and assessment of cumulative environmental effects from oil sands development.

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