Wetland Loss and Degradation: the Hidden Costs of Ethical Oil
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Wetland Loss and Degradation: The Hidden Costs of Ethical Oil Photo: Peter Essick Rebecca Rooney1,2, Suzanne Bayley2, Dustin Raab2 1Dept Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada 2 Dept of Biological Sci, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada [email protected] Ethical oil • Ezra Levant (2010) Ethical oil: the case for Canada’s oil sands – Political oppression – Human rights – Canada vs. OPEC • How to prioritize human and environmental ethical factors? • Oil companies operating in Alberta are the same ones in China and the middle east. • What are the costs? Wetlands in the oil sands area Rooney, Bayley, and Schindler (2012) PNAS, 109: 4933-4937. • Boreal Plain • 475,000 ha is mineable • 99% leased • ~170,000 ha approved (10) Oil sands accessed by strip mining Edward Burtynsky Google Earth Image 0.33 and 0.63 m2 of land 1m3 of oil produced 12 km 49,700,000 m3 produced in 2010 > 16.4 km2 Data from Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resources Development Public liability Uncertainty of reclamation success The area of disturbed land that still needs to be reclaimed • Lots of peatland • Little upland • Little open water Pre-mining, the region is 62% peatland Suncor 2010 • No peatland • Mainly upland • End pit lakes and stream network Suncor 2010 Wetland loss 1) Peatland dominated landscape will be replaced with a few, sub- saline, shallow open water marshes. Photo: Suzanne Bayley 2004 Reclaimed forest It will take time for trees to mature Constructed riparian area Constructed marsh • 4 mines provided comparable baseline and closure habitat area numbers • Horizon • Muskeg River • Jackpine 1 • Kearl • 42% of land approved for mining Wetland loss: mainly peatland Scale up: Total Pre Total Post Net change Description (ha) (ha) (ha) (%) ~30,000Upland forest ha of peatland39114 destroyed 54587 15473 40 Shrubland 524 82 -442 -84 ~4000Bog ha of marsh created5179 1320 -3859 -75 Fen 13238 4683 -8555 -65 ~5500Gramminoid ha marsh of riparian shrubland878 2595 created1717 196 Swamp 13054 9795 -3259 -25 Shallow open water 456 94 -362 -79 But,Lake no operational scale2059 evidence5702 that3643 177 reclamationRiparian shrubland efforts will 1succeed. 2327 2326 232600 Littoral zone 0 230 230 infinite Disturbance 6658 395 -6263 -94 WhatPeatland is (thebog &cost? fen) 18417 6003 -12414 -67 Biodiversity: > 300 plant species Photo: Dave Locky 2004 Habitat for species at risk Water storage Carbon storage Traditional use Reclaimed Natural Bog Cranberry Integrated risk assessment for Boreal Caribou Environment Canada (2011) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 102 pp. Reclamation and wetland degradation 2) The shallow open water marshes built for reclamation do not resemble natural shallow open water marshes • Physical and chemical environment • Plant community OIL SANDS MINING PROCESSPEAT SURFICIAL DEPOSITS MARINE CLAYS OIL SANDS 19 of 40 Difficulties in wetland construction • Water quality – Salt – Metals – Hydrocarbons Reclamation wetlands Small (1-20 ha) Elevated salinity (~ 1000 μS/cm) Shallow open water wetlands 3 vegetation zones Open water (OW) Emergent (EM) Wet meadow (WM) 63 wetlands Reference • 38 REF • 12 Phys. • 13 Tailings Physically disturbed Tailings contaminated Similar range in salinity, surface area, depth, and turbidity. Ref sites ranged north and south / east and west of the reclamation wetlands. E.g., same range of salinity 6 Tailings contaminated 5 Physically disturbed Reference 4 3 2 1 0 Total dissolved solids (g/L) Total Order 16 April 2012 Dr. Rebecca Rooney 23 1) Environmental stress? Usually Usually abiotic biotic Stress Response Driver Stress Stress Response Are reclamation wetlands under greater stress? • 52 environmental variables • Ordination to summarize Just need 8 6 Cations 4 Water TN 2 Na Conductivity CationsAnions 0 TDS Sediment % water PC 2 Scores -2 Max depth NH4+ Physical Secchi/Total -4 TDN TN TP Amplitude -6 % oil -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 Cont. Cl- PC 1 Scores Rooney and Bayley (2010) Ecol. Indic., 10: 1174-1183 Stress scores of all wetlands 18 Kruskal-Wallis with non-parametric multiple comparisons test 16 REF < OS reference < OS process affected, at α = 0.05 14 12 10 8 Stress Score 6 4 Wetland Name Reference Physically disturbed Tailings contaminated 2) Biological response? Salinity Nutrient limitation Mining Turbidity Response? Depth Slope Hydrocarbons Oil sands wetlands have different SAV Categorical test of independence 74% of all Reference wetlands macrorhiza cirrhosa demersum pusillus Total Chara Myriophyllum spp. No R. P. C. U. REF 2 2 2 1 3 24 4 38 2 OSREF 2 10 0 0 0 0 0 12 χ = 67.75, OSPA 5 1 1 4 2 0 0 13 d.f. = 12, Total 9 13 3 5 5 24 4 63 p < 0.00001 Rooney and Bayley (2011) Ecol. Engineering, 37: 569-579 Oil sands wetlands have different wet meadow plants Reference , 76% spp. of , atherodes aquatilis REF Reclaimed sedge Carex Scutellaria galericulata Carex Hordeum jubatum Sonchus Total REF 19 3 3 25 OSREF 2 5 2 9 OSPA 0 5 6 11 Disturbed/saline Total 21 13 11 45 Dustin Raab (2010) MSc. thesis Index of Biotic Integrity: submersed aquatic veg (SAV) Rooney and Bayley (2012) Env. Monit. Assess., 184: 749-761 16 April 2012 Dr. Rebecca Rooney 30 1. Select biotic metrics 120 100 80 60 % C. demersum 40 20 0 -20 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 2 Diversity 1.5 Measure 1 Variables 0.5 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 120 100 % Alkali tolerant 80 60 40 20 60 initial candidate metrics 0 -20 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 11 significantly related to Low High stress scores (α < 0.05) Stress Gradient 2. Minimize redundancy 5 non- redundant (Pearson r ≤ 0.6) 3. Verify: SAV IBI scores by wetland type Reference 450 < 12 ANOVA: F = 34.7, p < 0.00001 400 2,59 350 300 Constructed 250 200 > 160 150 SAV IBI Score Score IBI SAV 100 50 R2 = 0.51 P < 0.000001 0 5 10 15 20 Stress Score Reference Physically disturbed Tailings contaminated IBI: wet meadow vegetation 500 Reference Component metrics Robel height (Biomass) 400 Vegetation zone width Mean C value 300 Relative diversity exotic spp. Relative diversity halophytes 200 Raab and Bayley (2012) Ecol. Indic., 15: 43-51 100 WM IBI Score WM IBI 0 Constructed -100 R2 = 0.50 P < 0.000001 -200 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 Stress Score Reference Physically disturbed Tailings contaminated Higher stress, lower “health” Salinity Nutrient limitation SAV Mining Turbidity Depth Wet meadow Slope Hydrocarbons Summary • Oil sands mining causes massive loss of peatland – ~30,000 ha peatland destruction already approved – Functions and values of pealtand Summary continued • Reclamation not restoration – Replace peatlands with much less shallow open water marsh – Different functions and values • Reclamation marshes are not “healthy” – Elevated environmental stress – Different plant communities – Lower biotic integrity Conclusions • Development charges ahead of reclamation creating 61,000 ha of reclamation debt • 65% of land in the area was wetland • Peatland is destroyed • Replacement wetlands are different in type and of inferior quality • Concern that reclamation plans may not be achievable • Improved reclamation practices are needed Acknowledgements Co-authors: Dr. S. Bayley, D. Raab Collaborators: Dr. L. Foote, Dr. J. Ciborowski, Dr. R. Vinebrook, Dr. H. Proctor, Dr. J.C. Cahill, C. Nielsen, D. Fabijan, & M. Bolding Many field and lab assistants .