Chris Powter Executive Director Oil Sands Research and Information Network School of Energy and the Environment University of Alberta
www.osrin.ualberta.ca
http://osemb.cemaonline.ca/rrdcSearch.aspx Why? Social Water is not only a resource, it is a life source. We all share the responsibility to ensure a healthy, secure, and sustainable water supply for our communities, environment, and economy – our quality of life depends on it. Facts about Water in Alberta (Government of Alberta 2010 – http://environment.gov.ab.ca/info/library/6364.pdf )
Contaminated water poured from oil sands plant into Athabaska River for four hours Vancouver Sun (March 26, 2013) – http://www.vancouversun.com/business/energy/Polluted+water+poured+ from+oilsands+plant+into+Athabaska/8154566/story.html?__lsa=147c-0dbb
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 2 Athabasca River Clearwater River
Peace Athabasca Delta Wood Buffalo National Park
Winifred lake Cold Lake
Fort McKay Fort Chipewyan Fort McMurray NWT
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 3 Mining Use, storage, discharge In-situ Use, disposal
Godwalt et al., 2010
OSRIN and CEAA, 2012
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 4 Law of Unintended Consequences
Discipline Integrated focus focus
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 5 Mining and in-situ But don’t forget quarries and Fort McMurray! Surface water, groundwater, wetlands and fisheries Time Historical (pre-disturbance) condition Current state Future – modeling / prediction / planning
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 6 IFN - Water Management Framework Flow to NWT Mining Stream diversions Withdrawal amount / timing Recycle rate In-situ SOR Roads and pads as dams
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 7 Athabasca River and tributaries
Natural vs. oil sands seepage Gibson et al., 2011 Peace – Athabasca Delta Regional lakes Acidification Hydrocarbons Snow chemistry Fish and other biota
http://blog.inmovies.ca/201 1/01/alberta-oil-sands-get- OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge ugly-close-up.html 8 Mining Dewatering Seepage rates Re-establishment rate, level and quality after OSRIN and CEAA, 2012 reclamation In-situ Extraction Injection Groundwater – surface water interaction?
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 9 Oil sands process-affected water Chemistry Recycle Leakage? Solids release water Tailings sand Treated tailings (e.g., TRO)
Powter, 2012
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 10 Compensation lakes 29 pit lakes With or without tailings Fill water source / timing? Cumulative Environmental Competing needs – e.g., water Management Association, 2012 on dump slopes Wetlands / Fens Reconstructed streams Lease boundary reconciliation Remove in-situ pads and roads? Syncrude Base Mine Lake Beavers! OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 11 Process? Criteria Naphthenic acids? Volumes? Timing? Where is it a “release” Oil Sands Water Release Technical Working in lease? Group, 1996
off-lease?
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 12 Surface water and groundwater quantity and quality Biota Federal – Provincial Monitoring Government of Canada and Government of Alberta, 2012 What do we do with historical data? OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 13 Regional solutions OSPW to in-situ Shared water treatment Shared water storage Alternative technologies Electrical heating Nuclear power Solvent extraction Climate change effects? Once-through water? Mine through rivers?
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 14 Questions?
OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 15 Cumulative Environmental Management Association, 2012. End pit lakes guidance document 2012. Cumulative Environmental Management Association, Fort McMurray, Alberta. 434 pp. http://cemaonline.ca/index.php/administration/doc_download/174-end-pit-lake-guidance-document
Gibson, J.J., S.J. Birks, M. Moncur, Y. Yi, K. Tattrie, S. Jasechko, K. Richardson, and P. Eby, 2011. Isotopic and Geochemical Tracers for Fingerprinting Process-Affected Waters in the Oil Sands Industry: A Pilot Study. OSRIN Report No. TR-12. 109 pp.
Godwalt, C., P. Kotecha and C. Aumann, 2010. Oil Sands Tailings Management Project. OSRIN Report No. TR-7. 64 pp.
Government of Canada and Government of Alberta, 2012. Joint Canada Alberta implementation plan for oil sands monitoring. Government of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario and Government of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. 27 pp. http://www.ec.gc.ca/Publications/47789FA4-67E0-4334-A850-15FFA1F8E8F2/COM1519_Final-OS- Plan_02.pdf
Oil Sands Research and Information Network and Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, 2012. Summary of the Oil Sands Groundwater – Surface Water Interactions Workshop. OSRIN Report No. TR-22. 125 pp.
Oil Sands Water Release Technical Working Group, 1996. Approaches to oil sands water releases. Alberta Environmental Protection, Edmonton, Alberta. 34 pp. http://environment.gov.ab.ca/info/library/6839.pdf
Powter, C., 2012. Oil sands tailings: A liquids problem or a solids problem?. IN: Sego, D., G.W. Wilson and N. Beier (Eds.), 2012. Proceedings of the Third International Oil Sands Tailings Conference. December 3-5, 2012, Edmonton, Alberta. University of Alberta, Geotechnical Center and Oil Sands Tailing Research Facility, Edmonton, Alberta. pp. 67-71. http://www.osrin.ualberta.ca/AboutOSRIN/~/media/Oil%20Sands%20Research%20and%20Information%20Net work/Documents/IOSTC_2012_Paper_-_Powter.pdf OSRIN Creating and Sharing Knowledge 16