Chemical and biological monitoring of the muskeg drainage at the Alsands project site. Program evaluation and suggestions for continued monitoring

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Mayhood, D. W.

• Volume I of this report reviewed the available data on the aquatic resources of the Muskeg River drainage as a background to further studies on the river system. Volume II presented the results of monitoring and fish studies conducted in 1980. The present volume evaluates the 1980 monitoring program, and makes suggestions for the conduct of future monitoring studies on the Muskeg River and elsewhere in the AOSERP area. More specifically, this volume is intended to meet the following requirements of Alberta Environment that have not been addressed in preceding volumes. 1. Assess the effectiveness of the ditch and outfall designs in limiting the suspended solids load contributed to the Muskeg River. 2. Discuss possible mitigative measures, based on the findings of the present monitoring program. 3. Evaluate the usefulness and suitability of the parameters chosen for monitoring in the current program. In addition, Alberta Environment requested the following: Discuss general alternatives for future monitoring programs in the Alberta Tar Sands area. Consider: a) timing, with respect to season and specific events (floods, washouts, droughts, etc); b) integration of chemical, physical and biological approaches; c) sampling station selection; d) choice of chemical, physical and biological parameters for monitoring; e) methodology; and f) biological indicators. These and many other related topics have recently been treated at some length for Alberta Oil Sands Environmental Research Program by Aquatic Environments Limited (McCart and Mayhood 1980).

• Date created

  1981

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Oil Sands
  • Monitoring
  • Oil sands
  • Tar Sands
  • Muskeg River
  • Tar sands
  • Alberta
  • Canada, Alberta, Fort McMurray

• Type of Item

  Report

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3000011S

• 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.