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Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries.

ABSTRACT: We show that the oil sands industry releases the 13 elements considered priority pollutants (PPE) under the US Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water Act, via air and water, to the Athabasca River and its watershed. In the 2008 snowpack, all PPE except selenium were greater near oil sands developments than at more remote sites. Bitumen upgraders and local oil sands development were sources of airborne emissions. Concentrations of mercury, nickel, and thallium in winter and all 13 PPE in summer were greater in tributaries with watersheds more disturbed by development than in less disturbed watersheds. In the Athabasca River during summer, concentrations of all PPE were greater near developed areas than upstream of development. At sites downstream of development and within the Athabasca Delta, concentrations of all PPE except beryllium and selenium remained greater than upstream of development. Concentrations of some PPE at one location in Lake Athabasca near Fort Chipewyan were also greater than concentration in the Athabasca River upstream of development. Canada's or Alberta's guidelines for the protection of aquatic life were exceeded for seven PPE-cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, silver, and zinc-in melted snow and/or water collected near or downstream of development.

SUBMITTER: Kelly EN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2941314 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries.

Kelly Erin N EN Schindler David W DW Hodson Peter V PV Short Jeffrey W JW Radmanovich Roseanna R Nielsen Charlene C CC

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20100830 37

We show that the oil sands industry releases the 13 elements considered priority pollutants (PPE) under the US Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water Act, via air and water, to the Athabasca River and its watershed. In the 2008 snowpack, all PPE except selenium were greater near oil sands developments than at more remote sites. Bitumen upgraders and local oil sands development were sources of airborne emissions. Concentrations of mercury, nickel, and thallium in winter and all 13 PPE in s ...[more]

PMID: 20805486

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Project description:An unprecedented wildfire impacted the northern Alberta city of Fort McMurray in May 2016 causing a mandatory city wide evacuation and the loss of 2,400 homes and commercial structures. A two-hectare wildfire was discovered on May 1, grew to ~157,000ha by May 5, and continued to burn an estimated ~590,000ha by June 13. A comprehensive air monitoring network operated by the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) in and around Fort McMurray provided essential health-related real-time air quality data to firefighters during the emergency, and provided a rare opportunity to elucidate the impact of gaseous and particulate matter emissions on near-field communities and regional air pollution concentrations. The WBEA network recorded 188 fire-related exceedances of 1-hr and 24-hr Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives. Two air monitoring sites within Fort McMurray recorded mean/maximum 1-hr PM2.5 concentrations of 291/5229?gm-3 (AMS-6) and 293/3259?gm-3 (AMS-7) during fire impact periods. High correlations (r2=0.83-0.97) between biomass combustion related gases (carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), total hydrocarbons (THC), total reduced sulfur (TRS), ammonia) and PM2.5 were observed at the sites. Filter-based 24-hr integrated PM2.5 samples collected every 6 days showed maximum concentrations of 267?gm-3 (AMS-6) and 394?gm-3 (AMS-7). Normalized excess emission ratios relative to CO were 149.87±3.37?gm-3ppm-1 (PM2.5), 0.274±0.002ppmppm-1 (THC), 0.169±0.001ppmppm-1 (NMHC), 0.104±0.001ppmppm-1 (CH4), 0.694±0.007ppbppm-1 (TRS), 0.519±0.040ppbppm-1 (SO2), 0.412±0.045ppbppm-1 (NO), 1.968±0.053ppbppm-1 (NO2), and 2.337±0.077ppbppm-1 (NOX). A subset of PM2.5 filter samples was analyzed for trace elements, major ions, organic carbon, elemental carbon, and carbohydrates. Sample mass reconstruction and fire specific emission profiles are presented and discussed. Potential fire-related photometric ozone instrument positive interferences were observed and were positively correlated with NO and NMHC.

Dataset Information

Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries.

Publications

Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries.

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