Advances in science and applications of air pollution monitoring: A case study on oil sands monitoring targeting ecosystem protection

The potential environmental impact of air pollutants emitted from the oil sands industry in Alberta, Canada has received considerable attention. The mining and processing of bitumen to produce synthetic crude oil, and the waste products associated with this activity, lead to significant emissions of gaseous and particle air pollutants. Deposition of pollutants occurs locally (i.e., near the sources) and also potentially at distances downwind, depending upon each pollutant’s chemical and physical properties and meteorological conditions. The Joint Oil Sands Monitoring Program (JOSM) was initiated in 2012 by the Government of Canada and the Province of Alberta to enhance or improve monitoring of pollutants and their potential impacts. In support of JOSM, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) undertook a significant research effort via three components: the Air, Water and Wildlife Components, which were implemented to better estimate baseline conditions related to levels of pollutants in the air and water, amounts of deposition, and exposures experienced by the biota. The criteria air contaminants (e.g., NOx, SO2, VOCs, PM2.5) and their secondary atmospheric products were of interest as well as toxic compounds, particularly polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs), trace metals and mercury (Hg). This critical review discusses the challenges of assessing ecosystem impacts and summarizes the major results of these efforts through approximately 2018. Focus is on the emissions to the air and the findings from the Air Component of the ECCC research and linkages to observations of contaminant levels in the surface waters in the region, in aquatic species, as well as in terrestrial and avian species. The existing evidence of impact on these species is briefly discussed as is the potential for some of them to serve as sentinel species for the ongoing monitoring needed to better understand potential effects, their potential causes and to detect future changes. Quantification of the atmospheric emissions of multiple pollutants needs to be improved as does an understanding of the processes influencing fugitive emissions and local and regional deposition patterns. The influence of multiple stressors on biota exposure and response, from natural bitumen and forest fires to climate change, complicates the current ability to attribute effects to air emissions from the industry. However, there is growing evidence of the impact of current levels of PACs on some species pointing to the need to improve the ability to predict PACs exposures and the key emission source involved. While this critical review attempts to integrate some of the findings across the components, in terms of ECCC activities, increased coordination or integration of air, water and wildlife research would enhance deeper scientific understanding. Improved understanding is needed in order to guide the development of long term monitoring strategies that could most efficiently inform a future adaptive management approach to oil sands environmental monitoring and prevention of impacts.

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