Kevin Percy SSC Indictors Meeting May 4-5, 2010 Calgary Wood Buffalo Environmental Association: Environmental Monitoring in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region Kevin Percy SSC Indictors Meeting May 4-5, 2010 Calgary

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The Resource Estimated 1.3 trillion barrels oil Reserve 173 billion barrels oil (economically accessible today) Potential > 100 years production 2007 1.3 Mbbl d-1 2020 3-4 Mbbl d-1 Source: CAPP 2008. Environmental challenges and progress in Canada’s oil sands.

Major emission sources Photo Source: CAPP (2008) Environmental challenges and progress in Canada’s oil sands.

Industry, Regulation & WBEA AOSR companies have clauses in their Approvals to operate that require environmental monitoring through funding/participation in WBEA Air quality monitoring is required for compliance purposes “Biological” monitoring is less defined

Who Are We? WBEA Founded 1997 Multi-stakeholder (27 members) Independent, objective, not-for-profit Board, Governance Committee for oversight 3 Committees (Air, Terrestrial, Human Exposure) Executive Director, staff Industry-funded Fort McMurray

What We Do WBEA does: WBEA does not: Science-based environmental monitoring of air and land Some “small r” process study in support of monitoring Core long-term forest health monitoring, early warning, cause-effect linkage Reporting Reports to committees Peer-reviewed publications Beginning 2010 “getting the word out: on perceived versus real facts on air quality and ecosystem health WBEA does not: Do Research

WBEA operates 15 air monitoring stations Continuous measurements (SO2, NOx, NO2, NH3, TRS, H2S, O3, CO) Semi-continuous measurements (PM10, PM2.5, VOC, PAH, precip.) Passive measurements (SO2, NO2, O3, HNO3, NH3, H2S) Passive monitoring at 20 forested remote sites (SO2, NO2, O3, HNO3, NH3)

Air quality generally very good for criteria pollutants In 2008, the one hour Alberta ambient air quality objectives for SO2 and NO2 were exceeded for only 5 hours total. Exceedances occurred at industry stations only. 90th percentiles for each pollutant were higher at industry than community stations Source: WBEA (2009)

Increase in nuisance odors in two communities In the case of reduced sulfur compounds, annual average concentrations in red at 4 industry stations declined between 2000and 2005, then increased yearly to 2008 Concentrations in green at 3 community stations where reduced sulfurs have been measured peaked in 2003, declined in 2004 and have remained little changed through 2008 Source: WBEA (2009)

Passive Monitoring to estimate regional exposure WBEA currently operates an extensive regional network of 35 passive monitoring stations Some XX of these are located at wetland or forested aspen/jack pine minitoring sites To better interpret current data, and plan for the future, WBEA completed a geospatial analysis of data to determine areas where we had higher or lower confidence on the air concentrations measured The uncertainty analysis showed two areas circled in red on the left hand pane where confidence in amonia values was lowest Accordingly, these two locations are being instrumented with passive towers this October

CWS and U.S. NAAQS for ozone T. Dann, EC-NAPS

Mean PM 2.5 Concentrations (µg m-³) 2004 -2006. Source: Environment/Health Canada (2010). Canadian 2008 Smog Science Assessment (in press)

Effects-based Environmental Monitoring: The WBEA TEEM program Effects Monitoring Model Evaluation Deposition Monitoring Frameworks And Reporting Informed Decision Making Percy, Maynard, Legge 2010

INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT SOURCE Emissions characterization, apportionment Transformation photochemical reactions, aerosol chemistry dry, wet, bulk Deposition Transfer to terrestrial Deposition velocities, bulk deposition Effects on Individuals foliar, tree, mosses, lichens, soil biology Effects on Assemblages Stand, bog composition, condition, growth Biogeochemistry N, S, H2O Bioaccumulation traditional food quality days years decades Structure and Function OM cycle, fine roots, insects, climate, NPP Water (ground, wetlands) SINK

Oil Sands from 38,000 ft (A. Legge 2007)

The Challenge! Boreal Plains Ecozone Plots 150 km+ from McMurray

Rewarding and Surprising! Locals selling stuff EPA dudes