Unscrambling the alphabet soup of monitors and watchdogs
For decades, the provincial government maintained that oilsands production was not polluting air or water in the northeast. The conventional wisdom held that pollutants were naturally present because of bitumen deposits near the rivers.
That position was abandoned between 2010 and 2012.
A groundbreaking August 2010 report by water experts David Schindler and Erin Kelly, both from the University of Alberta, found industry is responsible for increased concentrations of heavy metals in snowpack and lakes 50 kilometres downstream from oilsands plants. Mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic are travelling far beyond the mines and upgraders.
Schindler’s results were backed up in a November 2012 study by scientists from Environment Canada and Queen’s University, which found toxic pollutants up to 100 km from the oilsands plants.
That report said the increase in potential carcinogen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) coincided with oilsands development and the compounds have a distinct “petrogenic” fingerprint different from PAHs generated by natural phenomena such as fire.
Meanwhile, in December 2010, two other reports criticized Alberta’s water monitoring as inadequate. Both reports — one done by the Royal Society of Canada, at the request of the province, and the other by a panel set up by the federal government — concluded monitoring had not kept pace with development.
In 2011-12, as a result of these and other studies, both levels of government stepped in with a major initiative called the Joint Canada/Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring — dubbed JOSM — to measure pollution levels in the air, water and forests in the northeast.
JOSM created another level of bureaucracy atop a network of local agencies that evolved over the last two decades.
Also in 2012, the province made major changes to speed up approval of new oilsands projects. The new Alberta Energy Regulator, which took over in June 2013, was also given wider powers over enforcement of environmental laws in the oilpatch.
What follows is a guide to the alphabet soup of agencies and stakeholder groups operating in the northeast and the date each was created. It’s not exhaustive in terms of official agencies and doesn’t include the wide range of environmental organizations and non-governmental organizations — the Pembina Institute, Greenpeace, Ecojustice, the Sierra Club — also operating in the province.
JOSM — February 2012 — Joint Canada/Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring
JOSM is measuring levels of pollution in water, air, biodiversity and land in the northeast over three years. The $50-million annual tab will be paid by industry lobby group, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).
The goal is to give a “clear picture of the cumulative effects” of all oilsands projects on the region.
The JOSM data are being released publicly on a federal government website. The federal-provincial agreement expires in 2015.
Environmentalists were generally pleased by government efforts to bolster pollution monitoring, but they’re waiting to see what will happen when all the evidence is in.
“It can’t be monitoring for monitoring sake,” said Kyle Harrietha, manager of Métis Local 1935 in Fort McMurray. “If the data shows we are reaching key (pollution) thresholds, what action will be taken? Does this data feed into provincial environmental oversight or federal?”
In a blog post, the Pembina Institute said: “While we commend the Governments of Alberta and Canada on finally co-operating to lay the groundwork for a credible monitoring program, we think it is fair to hold some applause until we see evidence that our governments are committed to using the information that is gathered to improve how oilsands are managed.”
AEMERA — October 2013 — Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency
The Alberta environment ministry recently announced a new agency, at arm’s length from government, to monitor pollution in the oilsands.
The Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency will start up in early 2014, if the bill creating it passes the legislature this fall. AEMERA will take over the monitoring job done by JOSM when its three-year agreement expires in 2015, and will expand it beyond the oilsands to eventually cover the entire province.
Data will be publicly reported, although the government has not indicated how often it will be released. The agency will have a science advisory panel and be funded by industry and government. AEMERA measurements will inform the Lower Athabasca Regional Plan or LARP, which sets pollution limits.
AER — June 2013 — Alberta Energy Regulator
Earlier this year, the Alberta government set up a new body, the Alberta Energy Regulator, to replace the old Energy Resources Conservation Board. The latter approved applications for new energy projects, held public hearings on contested proposals and investigated spills and accidents in the oilpatch.
The AER was given wider duties, including issuing water permits and enforcing environmental laws in the oilpatch — work that had been done by the Alberta Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development. To speed up applications for new projects, the industry wanted a single portal, so the government handed over to the AER responsibility for enforcing three key pieces of oilindustry legislation — the Water Act, Public Lands Act and Environment Protection and Enhancement Act. That means the industry-funded AER will also decide whether charges will be laid against companies for spills or dead waterfowl on tailings ponds.
According to its website, “The AER is 100 per cent funded by industry and is authorized to collect funds through an administrative fee levied on oil and gas wells, oilsands mines, and coal mines.”
The province also created a new policy management office in the Energy Department to deal with oilsands issues. Currently, environmental issues are often discussed at public hearings, but that is expected to change. Those discussions will take place in the policy management office. While the Environment Department will have input into those talks, it’s so far unclear how the public can bring forward concerns.
The AER’s chief executive is Gerry Protti, a former oil company executive who also founded CAPP.
LARP — September 2012 — Lower Athabasca Regional Plan
The Lower Athabasca Regional Plan, a land-use document, is becoming the Environment Department’s key vehicle to regulate air, land and water pollution in the oilsands. Its pollution limits are legally binding — though they have yet to be tested.
For instance, LARP sets limits for air pollution in the northeast. If a new oilsands project will cause air pollution to increase to the benchmarks set out in the LARP, the Environment Department must take action to keep pollution below those levels. It can ask companies to reduce pollution or slow development until air pollution sinks below the trigger levels.
The government says the LARP went into effect in September 2012, but many key aspects are not finalized, including the biodiversity framework to protect wildlife, the landscape management plan and the groundwater framework. So far, none of the conservation areas set out in the LARP has been legally designated.
A test of LARP’s effectiveness should come quickly. Shell’s proposed Jackpine mine expansion will result in cumulative air pollution that exceeds the limits for nitrogen dioxide in the region. The regulator approved the project subject to LARP.
CEMA — 2001 — Cumulative Environmental Management Association
In 2001, the Alberta government set up a non-profit association to figure out how to deal with growing environmental issues, do technical reports and give government policy advice. More than 50 groups joined the Cumulative Environmental Management Association, including industry, First Nations, environmentalists, federal and provincial governments, and non- governmental organizations. The idea was to have people on all sides hammer out policy on issues such as tailings ponds and impact on wildlife.
CEMA’s executive director, Glen Semenchuk, says many of its reports and technical documents have been adopted as government policy.
Its funding mostly comes from oilsands companies, which have threatened to stop paying the bills twice in the past 12 months. Last year, the industry reinstated its funding after discussions with then-Environment minister Diana McQueen. But they called again this fall to shut down the agency, arguing CEMA’s work could be done by an industry organization. The ministry has not yet responded.
WBEA — 1997 — Wood Buffalo Environmental Association
The Wood Buffalo Environmental Association, now comprising 37 member organizations, was established in 1997 to monitor air quality in the northeast. In 1999, WBEA began a program to monitor effects of air pollution on the forests, and in 2005, it began looking at human exposure to air pollution focusing on odours. According to its website, the association represents aboriginal, environmental, government and industry groups and operates the most extensive ambient air network in Alberta with 15 air monitoring stations and 20 passive monitoring stations.
The organization’s budget has grown to $12 million and its executive director is scientist Kevin Percy.