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

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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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A guide to understanding and using the project selection and priority ranking tool

Description

As part of the government's response to the June 2013 flooding in Southern Alberta, the Southern Alberta Fisheries Habitat Enhancement and Sustainability (FISHES) Program was established with the... More ≫

Description

As part of the government's response to the June 2013 flooding in Southern Alberta, the Southern Alberta Fisheries Habitat Enhancement and Sustainability (FISHES) Program was established with the aim of mitigating the flood-related effects on fish and fish habitat in the short term and to re-establish a healthy aquatic environment over the longer term. In the absence of an existing process, a number of new tools were developed by the FISHES Program to support effective decision making and the allocation of program funds. The Project Selection and Priority Ranking Tool was developed to help evaluate potential projects based on thirteen biological, social and economic criteria which are weighted to reflect both provincial fisheries management priorities and local fisheries issues and concerns.

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