Northern Rivers Ecosystem Initiative: Distribution and Effects of Contaminants

Abstract

In response to a number of recommendations following the Northern Rivers Basin Studies (NRBS) contaminant program, the Northern Rivers Ecosystem Initiative (NREI) focused considerable attention on assessing contaminants from specific sources including pulp mill effluents, atmospheric transport of mercury and the Alberta oil sands operations. NRBS identified a number of major contaminants of concern including polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins and furans, mercury and various hydrocarbons. Together, the NRBS and the NREI studies have demonstrated major declines in the levels of dioxins and furans over the last decade as pulp and paper mills have changed their process and treatment strategies in response to new Federal regulations. Polychlorinated biphenyls however, continue to be a concern for the region as their levels have not declined in fish and sediments over the course of these studies. Higher levels in sediments downstream of Grande Prairie and Hinton were identified, but the source of these contaminants remains unknown. Chlorinated pesticides were also investigated, and although toxaphene, DDT and other chlorinated organic pesticides were detected in fish tissue, they were present at very low levels. Studies on the oil sands industry in northern Alberta demonstrated limited impacts on the Athabasca River to date, although studies did identify slight to moderate impacts of natural oil seeps on fish and benthic communities in tributary streams. NREI studies also identified endocrine active compounds in the three pulp and paper mill effluents tested, but endocrine disruptive effects in wild fish were minimal. Municipal sewage effluents also contain endocrine active compounds and it is recommended that monitoring continue around these point sources.

Impacts and prognosis of natural resource development on water and wetlands in Canada’s boreal zone

“…Detailed examination of the results revealed that there were deviations from the baseline at about 25% of the sites for one or more of the water quality parameters evaluated, but there were no consistent trends for which constituents were elevated. Other studies (e.g., Headley et al 2005;McMaster et al 2006a;Conly et al 2007) also concluded that high concentrations of arsenic (Conly et al 2007), metals (Headley et al 2005), and hydrocarbons (McMaster et al 2006a) were of natural origin. Several studies have been critical of the RAMP conclusions.…”

Sources of particulate matter components in the Athabasca oil sands region: investigation through a comparison of trace element measurement methodologies

“…The various processes involved in bitumen extraction are believed to have environmental impacts on the area's water (McMaster et al, 2006), soil (Whitfield et al, 2009), and ecology (Goff et al, 2013). While air quality studies are much more limited (Hodson, 2013;, gaseous emissions such as SO 2 and NO x are known pollutants associated with oil sands activities (Charpentier and Bergerson, 2009;Bytnerowicz et al, 2010;McLinden, 2012).…”

Geoscience of Climate and Energy 12. Water Quality Issues in the Oil Sands Region of the Lower Athabasca River, Alberta

“…In the nearby Wapiti River, a tributary to the Peace River, a pulp mill was identified as the source of PCBs, but on the Athabasca River, the combined municipal sewage/mill effluent at the town of Hinton, AB, added little to high concentrations found upstream of the effluent, and the source is not known. Concentrations of PCBs did not decline during the NRBS/NREI studies, and remain an issue of concern, although as of 2004, concentrations did not exceed guidelines in any area (McMaster et al 2006). As in the case of dioxins and furans, biomagnification in food chains can result in high concentrations of PCBs in fish.…”

“…The recommended health study in the region was not done. After dioxins and furans were eliminated from mill effluents, concentrations in fish slowly declined (McMaster et al 2006), allowing the repeal of consumption advisories in the early 2000s. The NRBS program was very popular with stakeholders in the basin, because all sectors of society, including indigenous people, had direct input to an independent, transparent decision-making agency with a strong scientific advisory board consisting of several reputable independent scientists, led by Dr. Peter Larkin.…”

“…Following new federal regulations in 1992 that required pulp mills to use chlorine dioxide instead of free chlorine for bleaching, concentrations in fish of the Athabasca River began to decline. As a result, dioxins and furans have now declined to values where consumption advisories for fish have been lifted (McMaster et al 2006). One surprise finding from the NRBS studies was that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were also elevated near several pulp mill sites.…”