Oil Sands Tailings Capping Study

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • HBT AGRA Limited

• In the summer of 1990, research plots were designed and constructed on the Syncrude Canada Ltd., mine site at Mildred lake to test the effect of thickness and quality of replaced soil over tailings sand on the performance of trees and shrubs. Treatments included three cap thicknesses (70, 50 and 30 cm) of replaced soil salvaged from an area rated as \"fair\" soil suitability for reclamation, as well as one cap (70 cm) of replaced soil salvaged from an area of \"poor\" soil suitability. Following plot construction, seedlings of four species were planted including: jack pine, white spruce, aspen, and dogwood. Baseline soil data were collected and height was measured on a random selection of permanently marked seedlings. Survival and growth data were collected annually from 1991 to 1993. Soil analysis after plot construction indicated good control of cap thickness during soil placement but minimal difference in the quality of replaced soil between plots constructed from the \"fair\" and 'poor\" rated source materials. Seedling survival after three growing seasons ranged from 68 to 96 %. Almost all mortality occurred during the first overwinter period. Spruce had the highest survival and dogwood the lowest. In general seedlings doubled\" doubled in size during the three year period. Survival and were growth unrelated to soil thickness or quality. Naturally invading plants, primarily weedy species varied according to the amount of peat present near the surface of the replaced soil.

• Date created

  1994

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Oil Sands
  • RRTAC OF-6
  • Trees
  • Soils
  • Oil sands
  • Tar Sands
  • Tar sands
  • Shrubs
  • Alberta
  • RRTAC
  • Field Trials
  • Canada, Alberta, Fort McMurray

• Type of Item

  Report

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3G52P

• License

  This material is provided under educational reproduction permissions included in Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development's Copyright and Disclosure Statement, see terms at http://www.environment.alberta.ca/copyright.html. This Statement requires the following identification: \"The source of the materials is Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development http://www.environment.gov.ab.ca/. The use of these materials by the end user is done without any affiliation with or endorsement by the Government of Alberta. Reliance upon the end user's use of these materials is at the risk of the end user.