Environment and Climate Change Canada

In the oil sands air monitoring component, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2) levels are monitored by ground-based instruments, satellites and other measurements. Monitoring of air pollutants from satellites is becoming an alternative to surface and aircraft measurements, and allows...

Expanded Geographic Area (M9, M10, M11a, M12, BI1, RI1, SL1, SL2, QU1 [2013] and M9, M10, M11a, M12, BI1, BU1, BU2, RI1, SL1, SL2, QU1, MC2 [2011-March 2018]) Water quality chemistry data for 17 sites in the lower Athabasca River (LAR), the Peace and Slave rivers, and their tributaries, including...

Shallow groundwater and the interaction of these waters with surface water in the mineable area of the Athabasca oil sands region are being examined to assess the role and importance of groundwater in the regional river ecosystems. Groundwater quality chemistry data is available from 182 shallow...

Water chemistry, 26 different metals, and polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) were measured at 21 wetland sites where studies of amphibian health are being conducted. The water chemistry measurements (pH, conductivity, total dissolved solids, etc.) are used to further assess water quality,...

Avian Health and Contaminants Data on tree swallow clutch size and nestling weight, wing length, organ size, and measures of thyroid function were collected from study sites near active mine pits, tailings ponds and processing plants on oil sands leases in Alberta, and at relatively undisturbed...

Metals in Mallards (pooled 2013 collections) Adult male mallards were collected in 2013 in the area surrounding five Alberta communities south of the Athabasca oil sands industrial region (Mayerthorpe, Barrhead, Lac La Biche, St. Paul and Vermilion) and from two communities north of the...

Assessing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and naphthenic acid concentrations in soils collected in 2012 – Field and Laboratory Assessment of Contaminants The concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and naphthenic acids (NAs) were measured in soil samples collected in 2012....

Colonial Waterbird Health and Contaminants This data set contains concentrations of heavy metals, including mercury, polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and stable nitrogen isotopes in five species of colonial waterbird eggs (California Gull, Herring...

Plant species richness, composition, and soil chemistry parameters were assessed in wetlands and uplands in the oil sands region of northern Alberta. The concentrations of metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were measured in soil and plant samples collected from 2012-2014, and...

Air emissions from oil sands development can come from a number of sources including industrial smokestacks, tailings ponds, transportation, and dust from mining operations. Air quality monitoring under the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for the Oil Sands is designed to determine the...

The Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring (Environment Canada and Alberta Environment 2012) included the initiation of new biomonitoring sites on the Lower Athabasca River mainstem and its major tributaries following the study designs proposed in the Integrated...

Tributary Biomonitoring (Lower Athabasca River) Benthic macroinvertebrates, comprising insects, crusteaceans, molluscs and worms, represent a group of organisms used widely in environmental monitoring programs as early warning indicators to assess the effects of change in water quality...

Measurements of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) and particulate bound mercury on PM2.5 (referred to as PBM2.5) were collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada from August to September 2013 at the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Air Monitoring...

Total gaseous mercury (TGM) data are collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada at two Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Air Monitoring Stations (AMS). The instrument at WBEA AMS 11 was relocated to WBEA AMS 13 in Spring 2014. TGM data from the oil sands region are available...

Dataset contains laboratory-studied Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) survival when exposed to bitumen sediments from the oil sands region of northern Alberta, cut through the McMurray Formation (MF). These are the results of the toxicological exposures, when Fathead minnow embryos were...

Verified and validated SPMD data are available on experimental research data to ascertain whether low concentrations of PACs can be more accurately detected using semi-permeable membrane devices than with water grab samples. Data are available from spring 2012 through winter 2014/15 from sites...

Wild fish community data (species, abundance, diversity, length, weight) for 2013 and 2019 are now available for tributaries of the Athabasca River (rivers Steepbank, Ells, Firebag, High Hills, Dunkirk, Horse, Muskeg, Tar and Calumet) and 2017 data for rivers and creeks adjacent to Christina Lake...

Athabasca River (includes sites M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M7 [2011-March 2018]) Water quality chemistry data for 17 sites in the lower Athabasca River (LAR), the Peace and Slave rivers, and their tributaries, including measurements of major ions, nutrients, metals (dissolved and total) and organics...

The old-forest landbird monitoring program was initiated in 2014. Old-forest songbirds are a priority for monitoring because they can be vulnerable to habitat disturbance, and their habitats are less common overall and difficult to restore once disturbed. This augmented program employs a...

Local-scale projects focus on gaps in our understanding of complex response patterns at regional scales by targeting specific habitats or development features of interest. Environment and Climate Change Canada is monitoring how and why boreal birds respond to oil sands development features using...