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An independent review of coalbed methane related water well complaints filed with Alberta Environment

Description

Alberta Research Council was contracted by Alberta Environment to conduct four reviews of complaints about coalbed methane activities affecting private water wells, to independently assess the... More ≫

Description

Alberta Research Council was contracted by Alberta Environment to conduct four reviews of complaints about coalbed methane activities affecting private water wells, to independently assess the scientific evidence and provide conclusions identifying whether or not the water wells had been impacted by coalbed methane or conventional oil/gas extraction activities.

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Overview of fish contaminant monitoring programs in jurisdictions and summary of Alberta studies : final report

Description

This report includes an overview of major fish contaminant monitoring programs in Canada and U.S.A., and a summary of available fish contaminant surveys or monitoring studies from Alberta.

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Analysis of water quality conditions and trends for the long-term river network : Oldman River, 1966-2005

Description

The purpose of this report was to provide both a general summary of water quality conditions in the Oldman River and to subject the extensive long-term dataset to a thorough series of trend... More ≫

Description

The purpose of this report was to provide both a general summary of water quality conditions in the Oldman River and to subject the extensive long-term dataset to a thorough series of trend assessments. Although monitoring on the Oldman River has frequently addressed a host of trace organic contaminants, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and numerous other compounds, most of these data are insufficient for statistical evaluation of trends. Hence, analysed data are largely restricted to conventional water quality variables, including such things as ions, nutrients, bacteria, and metals. Results of trend assessment on these data suggest that a number of variables have undergone significant changes over the years. Despite ongoing expansion of livestock operations, irrigation activities, and human population in the Oldman River basin, all but one significant trend detected at the two sites after 1987 are decreasing and largely indicative of improving water...

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Selenium concentrations in the tissues of fish from the Upper McLeod and Upper Smoky River systems

Description

The present study compared selenium in fish tissues from flowing water systems near three west-central Alberta mountain cola mines in the upper McLeod and Smoky River systems to the toxicity... More ≫

Description

The present study compared selenium in fish tissues from flowing water systems near three west-central Alberta mountain cola mines in the upper McLeod and Smoky River systems to the toxicity effects thresholds developed by Lemly (1996). Overall, data for fish tissues collected in 2000 and 2001 by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development showed that selenium concentrations in rainbow and brook trout were usually greater than toxicity effects thresholds in the exposed streams compared to reference streams, particularly in the tissues of fish collected from waters draining the Luscar and Gregg River mines. General patterns for selenium concentrations int he remaining fish species sampled (bull trout, mountain whitefish, Arctic grayling, and longnose sucker) compared to effects thresholds were not always as apparent. This was to some extent due to the potential influences of spawning migrations of mountain whitefish and bull trout among the exposed and reference sampling locations, and...

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Potential for biodegradation of sub-littoral residual oil by naturally occurring microorganisms following the Lake Wabamun train derailment

Description

On August 3rd, 2005, 46 Canadian National Railway Company rail cars derailed approximately 65 km west of Edmonton, Alberta. Approximately 712,000 L of Bunker C heavy fuel oil and 88,000 L of... More ≫

Description

On August 3rd, 2005, 46 Canadian National Railway Company rail cars derailed approximately 65 km west of Edmonton, Alberta. Approximately 712,000 L of Bunker C heavy fuel oil and 88,000 L of Imperial Pole Treating Oil were released from the ruptured cars. The oils saturated the adjacent ground, flowed on the surface, and entered the lake waters on the north shore of Lake Wabamun. A variety of scientific support surveys or activities were initiated by Alberta Environment and Environment Canada as a result of the spill, including a study to investigate the potential ability of Lake Wabamun sediment microorganisms to biodegrade spilled Bunker C oil. This report describes results of this study.

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Lesser Slave Lake results of water quality survey conducted by Alberta Environment in 2000-2002

Description

This report summarizes the results of limnological and water quality investigations conducted by Alberta Environment on the Lesser Slave Lake in 2000 and 2001 and on the lake outfall between 2000... More ≫

Description

This report summarizes the results of limnological and water quality investigations conducted by Alberta Environment on the Lesser Slave Lake in 2000 and 2001 and on the lake outfall between 2000 and 2002. It also provides a comparison between results from this and an earlier limnological study carried out by Alberta Environment between 1991 and 1993.

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Evaluation of treatment options to reduce water-borne selenium at coal mines in west-central Alberta

Description

Microbial Technologies, Inc. reviewed the environmental chemistry of selenium and technologies for its treatment at three mountain coal mines in West-Central Alberta. These mines have recently... More ≫

Description

Microbial Technologies, Inc. reviewed the environmental chemistry of selenium and technologies for its treatment at three mountain coal mines in West-Central Alberta. These mines have recently been shown to release selenium to adjacent water bodies, resulting in its uptake into the food chain. Based on limited data from the Alberta mines, selenium is found in the dissolved form (mostly as selenate) in surface waters, a form that from a chemical perspective is relatively unreactive. Selanate can be reduced to selenite, a form more readily removed (chemically) from solution, or (biologically) to elemental selenium, an insoluble form. Currently, the expected duration of selenium release at the Alberta coal mines is not known.

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Overview of pesticide data in Alberta surface waters since 1995

Description

Alberta Environment (AENV) has measured pesticides in surface waters since the mid-1980’s and reports on pesticide concentrations in surface waters as part of its evaluation and reporting... More ≫

Description

Alberta Environment (AENV) has measured pesticides in surface waters since the mid-1980’s and reports on pesticide concentrations in surface waters as part of its evaluation and reporting responsibilities. In 1995 the approach to pesticide monitoring was updated to link ambient monitoring to pesticide sale records. Every five years provincial pesticide sales data, information on pesticide behaviour and toxicity, and results of surface water monitoring programs, are reviewed to priorize active ingredients that need to be monitored in surface waters. The overall objective of this report is to provide an overview of the extent and nature of pesticide contamination in Alberta’s surface waters. The overview covers all data from 1995 to 2002 inclusive that are stored on the AENV Water Data System.

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A preliminary survey of pharmaceuticals and endocrine disrupting compounds in treated municipal wastewaters and receiving rivers of Alberta

Description

Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other known or suspected endocrine disrupting compounds have been widely detected in various waters throughout the world. Prior to this study, however, sampling for... More ≫

Description

Pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other known or suspected endocrine disrupting compounds have been widely detected in various waters throughout the world. Prior to this study, however, sampling for these substances was rather limited within Alberta. In 2002 and 2003, due to concerns about potential impacts on humans, livestock, aquatic organisms, and wildlife, Alberta Environment collected wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents and receiving river water from numerous locations throughout the province and analysed them for a broad range of organic wastewater contaminants (OWCs). This initial survey, encompassing an assortment of pharmaceuticals, antibiotics, steroids, surfactants, and plasticizers, was designed to determine which compounds are released by WWTPs in Alberta and to assess their presence in receiving river waters.

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Results of aquatic studies in the McLeod and Upper Smoky River systems

Description

Selenium is a naturally occurring element, commonly found in rocks and soil. It is a nutrient usually required in small amounts by humans and other organisms, but it can be toxic at only slightly... More ≫

Description

Selenium is a naturally occurring element, commonly found in rocks and soil. It is a nutrient usually required in small amounts by humans and other organisms, but it can be toxic at only slightly higher levels. Concerns related to the fate and effects of selenium in aquatic ecosystems near mountain coal mines in west-central Alberta arose in the late-1990s. Mobilisation of selenium from geologic sources into surface water due to mining has occurred at three coal mines in the upper McLeod River and upper Smoky River systems. In 2000, Alberta Environment initiated various aquatic studies to: continue and establish new ambient monitoring of selenium and other metals at reference and exposed sites in streams near the three mountain mines; determine selenium levels in surface water and food web of streams, and to evaluate the data in a conceptual food web; and conduct a pilot study to determine selenium levels at old closed coal mines in the foothills of south-western Alberta. This...

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