Environment and Climate Change Canada

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...

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....

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...

Deltaic Wetlands Biomonitoring Wetland macroinvertebrates, comprising insects, crustaceans, molluscs and worms represent a group of organisms forming a critical food resource for consumer organisms (e.g. fish, birds), that are used widely in environmental monitoring programs to assess both the...

Atmospheric concentrations and deposition rates of particulate elements are important indicators for determining the potential impacts of the oil sands industries on the local environment. The datasets consist of measured ambient air concentrations (in PM2.5 and PM2.5-10) and estimated deposition...

Total gaseous mercury (TGM) data are currently collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada at two Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Air Monitoring Stations (AMS). Preliminary, hourly averaged TGM data from the oil sands region are available for: WBEA AMS 6 - Patricia McInnes,...

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...

Measurements of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) and particulate bound mercury on PM2.5 (referred to as PBM) are currently collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada at a Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Air Monitoring Station (AMS)....

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...

Long Term Air Pollutant and Meteorological Monitoring at Fort McKay’s Oski-ôtin site: Validated data Continuous monitoring of multiple air pollutants along with meteorological conditions began in Fort McKay at the Oski-ôtin site in August 2013. The purpose of Oski-ôtin’s enhanced monitoring is to...

Oil Sands Sediment Exposures of Embryo-larval Fathead Minnows Dataset contains laboratory-studied fathead minnow egg and larval survival rates when exposed to sediments collected from 18 sites in the Athabasca watershed (2010-2014). A controlled laboratory study examined the impacts on fathead...

Fish Status and Ecosystem Health - Caged Invertebrates In situ exposures of Hyalella azteca in Athabasca River tributaries - Summary of activities (2010, 2012, 2013, 2014) In situ exposures with Hyalella azteca were conducted within the oil sands region to assess differences in survival and...

Atmospheric Contaminant Deposition using Snowpack The data set includes snow samples (metals, water chemistry and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAHs]). Data from 2012-2014 snowpack samples collected from ~90-130 sites located varying distances from the major oil sands development area show...

Sediment Transport This data set demonstrates some variation in the data parameters, both in time and with distance along the mainstem Athabasca and two tributaries (Ells and Steepbank Rivers). For the mainstem Athabasca (bulk suspended sediment samples collected via continuous flow...