This decommissioned ERA site remains active temporarily to support our final migration steps to https://ualberta.scholaris.ca, ERA's new home. All new collections and items, including Spring 2025 theses, are at that site. For assistance, please contact erahelp@ualberta.ca.
AOSERP Reports
The Alberta Oil Sands Environmental Research Program (AOSERP) ran from 1975 to 1985 and carried out surveys and research aimed at identifying the potential long-term impacts of oil sands development. The program focused on land, water, air and human systems and produced numerous reports. The program was managed by Alberta Environment.To view a list of available reports, please visit: http://www.osrin.ualberta.ca/Resources/DigitizedReports.aspx
TAKE NOTE: These reports are provided to give context and historical information. As they are old they may contain references to out-of-date legislation and policies. Readers should be cautious when using these materials and always refer to current legislation and policies.
Items in this Collection
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Lake acidification potential in the Alberta oil sands environmental research program study area
Download1979
Numerous lakes in Scandinavia and eastern North America have been damaged by acidic precipitation induced by anthropogenic oxides of sulphur and nitrogen. On first approximation, lakes near present oil sands operations would not be susceptible to acidification due to buffering provided by their...
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1979
Geesy, G. G., Costerton, J. W.
The direct epifluorescence method has been adapted for counting bacteria in the sometimes turbid water of the Athabasca River and this method has been used to quantify planktonic bacteria. Monthly samples over an annual cycle beginning in May 1976 showed this population ranged from 1 x 105 to 2...
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Preliminary recommendations for mapping of aquatic habitat parameters for the AOSERP study area
Download1978
Brown, A., Robarts, R. D., Kent, M. J., Park, J. O.
Three aspects of aquatic habitat assessment and mapping have been considered. The first aspect was the review of the parameters which characterize aquatic habitats in the AOSERP study area. From an extensive list, ten parameters for each of lake habitats and river habitats were selected as being...
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1980
A regular program of water quality sampling has been instituted throughout the region of current oil sands development in northeastern Alberta. The goals of this program were to provide a base of background information on an extensive number of water quality parameters to enable the employment of...
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Synthesis of surface water hydrology
1979
The drainage system of the study area consists of a number of rivers draining from the west and from the east into the Athabasca River north of Fort McMurray, as well as a few rivers which join the Athabasca near Fort McMurray and drain areas to the south and east. Runoff from within the study...
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1979
Giles, M. A., Lawrence, S. G., Klaverkamp, J. F.
In order to conduct oil sands mining operations in the surface mining region of the Athabasca oil sands deposits, most regions require depressurization of the basal sandstone formations. The groundwater produced by depressurization operations is of poor enough quality to be toxic to fish. The...
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1978
Griffiths, W. H., Walton, B. D.
A review of the effects of sedimentation on aquatic biota is presented. The detrimental effects of increased suspended and settled sediments on fish, bottom invertebrates, and primary productivity are documented. It is shown that the upper tolerance level for suspended sediment is between 80-100...
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1977
The impact of saline waters upon freshwater biota, having special reference to the AOSERP study area, is reviewed. Available information on water quality in the AOSERP study area indicates that: the natural regional surface water quality does not appear to have any toxic effects, and chloride...
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1979
Anderson, P. D., D'Apollinia, S., Perry, S., Dick, J., Deluca, J., Spear, P.
This study was initiated in early 1976 during the early stages of the Alberta Oil Sands Environmental Research Program. The goal of the project was the establishment of criteria safeguarding fish from toxic effects of mixtures of vanadium, nickel, and phenol to fish. All three constituents are...
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1980
This report documents locations of Athabasca Oil Sands area water quality sampling sites; sampling, analytical and quality control methods used; the volume and availability of assembled data; and an extensive appraisal of the quality of the data base. The quality control measures taken proved to...