Local researchers have given a new federal environmental monitoring system for the oilsands a tentative thumbs-up. Now, the big question is whether or not the feds and the province will play nice to implement it.
Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent unveiled a new integrated oilsands environmental monitoring plan Thursday. Compiled by approximately 100 scientists, it proposes a revamped pollution tracking system that would examine the effects of the oilsands industry on the air, land and water both in and outside of Alberta.
The oilsands industry is growing, Kent said, and so is its environmental footprint.
"We need evidence that the growing production is environmentally responsible," he said.
This plan, parts of which are already under way, will give Canadians the scientific information they need to protect the environment.
"It will provide the facts and the science to defend the product that some abroad are threatening to boycott," Kent said.
The plan follows on, but does not mention, a recent proposal from an Alberta panel to create an arms-length commission to track environmental trends throughout the province, including the oilsands.
The federal and provincial governments will work closely to bring this plan to fruition, Kent said. "We don't want redundancy."
That co-operation is the real elephant in the room with this plan, said David Spink, a local air quality consultant who was involved with both the federal and provincial proposals.
"There's going to be a need for co-ordination," Spink said.
Comprehensive, says scientists
The plan, which runs for hundreds of pages, proposes a $50-million-a-year system that would focus on pollution monitoring, cumulative effects and openness. It aims to answer specific questions such as the current state of water in the Athabasca River, and will examine subjects like fish, bugs, lakes, smells and human health.
This is much more comprehensive than what's currently being done, said David Schindler, a freshwater biologist who reviewed the report. Most previous studies focused on the main branch of the Athabasca, for example, and ignored its tributaries, many of which were important sources of fish.
And it addresses key questions in need of answers, Spink said. Even after 40 years of operation, he notes, we still don't have a complete understanding of the pollutants coming out of the smokestacks in the oilsands. This plan will specifically study that issue.
"This is a very logical step," he said.
Will it work?
Kent estimates that the program will cost about $50 million a year, and he expects industry to pay for it.
"It's an awful lot of money, but it's money we believe will be well spent," the minister said.
Don Thompson, head of the Oil Sands Developers Group in St. Albert, said that his industry is looking forward to discussing the cost of the program with government.
Industry should certainly foot the bill for this research, Schindler said.
"You could run the oilsands for a few hours and pay for that," he said.
While $50 million would get you a solid research program, he feared that Environment Canada would not have the resources available to do it due to recent cuts.
"They're going to be robbing every other program in Canada in order to look good in the oilsands," Schindler said.
Schindler and Spink hoped the federal and provincial plans would mesh with the arm's-length panels proposed by the province, overseeing the research outlined by the feds.
Monitoring is great, Spink says, but your real goal in environmental protection is to minimize emissions.
"That's where the oilsands deserve the reputation of dirty oil," he said. "They could be doing a lot better job of minimizing their emissions and reducing their impact."
The full report can be found at www.ec.gc.ca.
