All Resources

A before after dose response (BADR) : terrestrial biological monitoring framework for the oil sands.

Description

This Technical Report provides an overview of the hierarchical Before-After Dose-Response (BADR) study design that was developed to provide an integrated, efficient framework for the Terrestrial... More ≫

Description

This Technical Report provides an overview of the hierarchical Before-After Dose-Response (BADR) study design that was developed to provide an integrated, efficient framework for the Terrestrial Biological Monitoring (TBM) component of the OSM Program. BADR is a monitoring design that measures changes in select indicator groups and attributes those changes to oil sands activities using two monitoring approaches: (1) Before-After: Monitoring at different phases of oil sands development (currently developed, not developed, and reference); and (2) Dose-Response: Monitoring along a gradient of current oil sands disturbance (high to low). The combination of these two approaches forms the BADR design. By repeatedly surveying monitoring locations within this design over time, the TBM program can gain information on how biological systems respond to known stressor gradients in the oil sands region.

Tags

Summary of enhanced monitoring of the Lower Athabasca River, 2018

Description

Summarizes work completed for the Lower Athabasca River enhanced monitoring program in 2018. Data that has been generated from this program to date includes surface water quality, sediment... More ≫

Description

Summarizes work completed for the Lower Athabasca River enhanced monitoring program in 2018. Data that has been generated from this program to date includes surface water quality, sediment quality, fish health endpoints, and fish communities. These data are provided in appendices at the end of this report.

Tags

A study design for enhanced environmental monitoring of the Lower Athabasca River

Description

Presents an enhanced sampling design for deployment in the Lower Athabasca River. It represents one component of work to describe baseline environmental conditions in the Lower Athabasca River... More ≫

Description

Presents an enhanced sampling design for deployment in the Lower Athabasca River. It represents one component of work to describe baseline environmental conditions in the Lower Athabasca River prior to the potential release of coke slurry-treated oil sands process affected water (OSPW). The document describes sampling locations and sampling frequency to establish a comprehensive description of baseline environmental conditions in surface water chemistry, benthic sediments, benthic algae, benthic macroinvertebrates, and small-bodied fish.

Tags

Oil Sands Monitoring Program : integration workshop reports (part 1 of 2)

Description

This report provides the results of seven technical integration workshops sponsored by the Oil Sands Monitoring program for the 2018-2019 fiscal year held between the end of October 2018 and early... More ≫

Description

This report provides the results of seven technical integration workshops sponsored by the Oil Sands Monitoring program for the 2018-2019 fiscal year held between the end of October 2018 and early February 2019. The seven workshops covered the following topics : terrestrial biological monitoring; groundwater; surface water and aquatic biology; atmospheric deposition, geospatial science, mercury, and predictive modelling. This report is a summary of detailed notes taken during each workshop.

Tags

Oil Sands Monitoring Program : recommendation report (part 2 of 2)

Description

This report presents recommendations for the steps that should be taken by the Oils Sands Monitoring Program to: address the priority key questions that were identified as rising out of seven... More ≫

Description

This report presents recommendations for the steps that should be taken by the Oils Sands Monitoring Program to: address the priority key questions that were identified as rising out of seven workshops held between the end of October 2018 and early February 2019; achieve the program's objectives; and integrate the program in a manner consistent with its operational framework agreement.

Tags

Hierarchical clustering network analysis of ambient air monitoring in Alberta : phases 1 and 2

Description

An air monitoring science workshop held in 2015 identified that further analyses are recommended to assess potential redundancies in the long-term air monitoring network of Alberta. This report... More ≫

Description

An air monitoring science workshop held in 2015 identified that further analyses are recommended to assess potential redundancies in the long-term air monitoring network of Alberta. This report provides a summary of the air network optimization methodology, and guidance on how its application to ambient air quality monitoring networks in Alberta may provide insight to aid in air quality network optimization. The report focuses on all the ambient air monitoring networks in Alberta and on two specific oil sands areas: Athabasca and Cold Lake.

Tags

Current and emerging methods for satellite monitoring of the oil sands

Description

The satellite remote sensing workshop brought the developers and potential clients of these satellite remote sensing products together to collectively identify opportunities for satellite remote... More ≫

Description

The satellite remote sensing workshop brought the developers and potential clients of these satellite remote sensing products together to collectively identify opportunities for satellite remote sensing deployment in subsequent years. The workshop discussions focused on measurements of wetland, greenhouse gases, and air quality. The outcomes of the workshop will be used to inform how satellites can be used to improve the scientific value, rigour, costs and confidence of monitoring and optimization of monitoring results.

Tags

Rationalizing and optimizing the water quality monitoring network in the oil sands

Description

This report describes the outcomes of a workshop held Nov. 28-30, 2016 in Edmonton to review, rationalize and optimize water quality monitoring conducted under the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring... More ≫

Description

This report describes the outcomes of a workshop held Nov. 28-30, 2016 in Edmonton to review, rationalize and optimize water quality monitoring conducted under the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring Program. The workshop participants included representatives from Alberta Environment and Parks and Environment and Climate Change Canada. The workshop outcomes include a number of recommended changes to monitoring network design.

Tags

Summary, evaluation and integration of atmospheric deposition monitoring in the Athabasca oil sands region

Description

This report describes atmospheric deposition monitoring in the oil sands region of Alberta. It provides information related to the extent to which existing environmental monitoring is assessing... More ≫

Description

This report describes atmospheric deposition monitoring in the oil sands region of Alberta. It provides information related to the extent to which existing environmental monitoring is assessing the impacts of deposition of oil sands emissions to surrounding ecosystems. A workshop and series of webinars was held with prominent scientists to discuss progress made to date, significant knowledge gaps, and develop recommendations to begin addressing these gaps. This technical report articulates these activities and the recommendations which resulted.

Tags

Surface water quality of Lower Athabasca River tributaries

Description

This study investigates key issues identified in the Joint Canada-Alberta Oil Sands Monitoring program regarding water quality of tributaries to the lower Athabasca River, specifically: the... More ≫

Description

This study investigates key issues identified in the Joint Canada-Alberta Oil Sands Monitoring program regarding water quality of tributaries to the lower Athabasca River, specifically: the current state of water quality; the distribution of contaminants; whether the presence of toxic substances is increasing or decreasing, and their rate of change' and whether substances added to the rivers by natural and man-made discharges are likely to cause deterioration of water quality.

Tags