{"id":357586,"date":"2025-12-19T04:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T04:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/357586\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T04:59:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T04:59:08","slug":"surface-water-in-alberta-oil-sands-contains-high-levels-of-dissolved-metals-report-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/357586\/","title":{"rendered":"Surface water in Alberta oil sands contains high levels of dissolved metals, report finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

A tailings pond near Fort McMurray, Alta. The first comprehensive assessment of the region\u2019s water quality highlighted areas that ‘may need further investigation.’Jeff McIntosh\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Surface water across Alberta\u2019s oil sands contains high levels of dissolved metals such as arsenic, cadmium, iron and aluminum, according to the first comprehensive assessment of the region\u2019s water quality. <\/p>\n

The report by the Oil Sands Monitoring Program, released Thursday afternoon, concluded that in-depth water analyses didn\u2019t show \u201cobvious widespread impacts\u201d linked to oil sands activity. But, it said, the results highlight areas that \u201cmay need further investigation,\u201d particularly where levels \u201cflag potential concerns for different components of human or ecological health.\u201d<\/p>\n

The objective of the report was not to evaluate risk to humans, wildlife or aquatic species. Rather, it was to compare water quality between monitoring sites across the oil sands region and report on environmental conditions. <\/p>\n

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Twenty groups participate in the Oil Sands Monitoring Program, including Indigenous communities, several oil sands producers, federal and provincial regulators and the University of Calgary. <\/p>\n

The report\u2019s aim was to provide information to help understand the current state of water quality and quantity in the oil sands area, and how much it has been changing over time and from one place to another. <\/p>\n

Its conclusions come from various indicators of water quality taken at 157 monitoring sites across the region. It compared surface water quality data against guidelines, and examined trends of what has been found in the water, and where. <\/p>\n

The report used data gathered over three time periods to help gain a clearer picture of long- versus short-term changes \u2013 1977 to 1997, 1998 to 2022, and the full data record. <\/p>\n

In all, the analysis considered more than 2.5 million individual measurements. <\/p>\n

Water quality \u201cdidn\u2019t show a consistent pattern of change when comparing sites upstream and downstream of oil sands activities on the Athabasca River,\u201d the report said. <\/p>\n

However, some of the smaller tributaries that flow into the Athabasca \u2013 especially those in the surface mining area \u2013 showed \u201csome increases that may require further investigation.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Muskeg River was a striking example. Water taken from the river \u201cstood out with more parameters increasing over time,\u201d the report said, including a rise in metals and ions such as nickel and sulphate. <\/p>\n

Where exceedances did happen, they mostly involved metals, especially cadmium, iron, manganese, aluminum and arsenic, the report found. Those can occur naturally in the environment \u2013 particularly in the oil sands region, which is steeped in crude \u2013 but high levels can also point to human activity.<\/p>\n

Measurements of aluminum, cadmium, iron, mercury and dissolved oxygen were commonly twice the level set out in guidelines to protect aquatic life. Values for total cadmium, thallium and uranium were two orders of magnitude above their guidelines for human health, though they occurred rarely.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore work is needed to understand whether the sources of these metals are natural or industrial, both upstream and downstream of oil sands operations, particularly in the Steepbank and Ells River,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

It also examined how water flows have changed in the region. <\/p>\n

While it found no consistent patterns between changes upstream and downstream, there has been a rise since 1990 in the number of days when water levels fall below navigation indicators, especially in the fall. <\/p>\n

\u201cFurther study is needed to understand what\u2019s causing these changes, whether it\u2019s climate, seasonal rainfall and temperature, or human activity,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Schulz, Alberta\u2019s Environment Minister, said in a statement that the findings reflect the province\u2019s commitment to transparency, scientific excellence and environmental leadership. <\/p>\n

\u201cAlbertans can be confident that our water is safe and that our energy sector is committed to responsible development,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: A tailings pond near Fort McMurray, Alta. The first comprehensive assessment of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":357587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[3793,3782,64,63,3794,1348,3774,3795,2065,3773,3787,3788,3784,3775,3772,164,2555,75,69,3781,3805,3776,3777,3786,3783,1625,2289,3796,3779,3800,3801,3803,3798,3802,3797,3799,3778,3790,3791,84,3789,2111,128,635,105,3792,3785,3780,1346,3804],"class_list":["post-357586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=357586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/357586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/357587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=357586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=357586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=357586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}