Developing Triggers for Environmental Effects Monitoring Programs for Trout‐Perch in the Lower Athabasca River (Canada)

Kilgour, Bruce W.; Munkittrick, Kelly R.; Hamilton, Liza; Proulx, Catherine L.; Somers, Keith M.; Arciszewski, Tim J.; McMaster, Mark E.

doi:10.1002/etc.4469

Cited by 12 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…If additional analyses are conducted, care may also be needed to characterize climatic and natural stresses. While MST and MSP were included here to account for background variation, other factors such as stream discharge may further explain some of the differences over time [58,59,64,101]. While better characterizing natural exposures would be beneficial, some, such as discharge in OSR tributaries, may be influenced by industrial activity, e.g., [46,56].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The approach has been used successfully to document changes in both chemical and biological status in lakes and bogs [7,9,22] and in some studies of streams [8,[55][56][57]. Second, while changes may be documented at a site over time, data on natural covariates, including temperature and precipitation [58,59], and descriptors of potential industrial influence, including mining intensity [8] and land disturbance [55] can also be included to identify potential drivers. The utility of combining climatic and industrial predictors in a site-specific and temporal analysis of monitoring data has recently been demonstrated in both the deposition of CoCs in snow and in the health of fish (slimy sculpin; Cottus cognatus) in the Steepbank River [8] further supporting the broad usefulness of this approach in the OSR.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Exploring the Influence of Industrial and Climatic Variables on Communities of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Collected in Streams and Lakes in Canada’s Oil Sands Region

Arciszewski

2021

Environments

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Identifying and tracking the influence of industrial activities on streams and lakes is a priority for monitoring in Canada’s oil sands region (OSR). While differences in indicators are often found in waterbodies adjacent to mining facilities, the confounding influence of natural exposures to bitumen and other stressors can affect the identification of industrial effects. However, recent work suggests metrics of industrial activity at individual facilities, including production and fuel consumption, may be used in site-specific analyses to identify influence of the industry as a whole as well as individual operations. This study further examined the potential relationships between industrial and climatic variables on benthic communities from 13 streams and 4 lakes using publicly available data from the minable region and the Elastic Net (EN) variable selection technique. From the full set of possible industrial and climate variables, the EN commonly identified the negative influence of plant and fuel use of petroleum coke at the Suncor Basemine on benthic communities in streams and lakes. The fuel/plant use of petroleum coke at Suncor likely reflects the emission and regional deposition of delayed coke fly ash. Among the other industrial variables, crude bitumen production at Syncrude Mildred Lake and other facilities, steam injection rates, and petroleum coke stockpiling were also selected for some benthic invertebrate indices at some sites. Land disturbance metrics were also occasionally selected, but the analyses largely support the predominant influence of industrial facilities via (inferred) atmospheric pathways. While climate variables were also commonly selected by EN and follow-up work is needed, this study suggests that integrating industrial performance data into analyses of biota using a site-specific approach may have broad applicability in environmental monitoring in the OSR. More specifically, the approach used here may both resolve the long-standing challenge of natural confounding influences on monitoring the status of streams in the OSR and track the influence of industrial activities in biota below critical effect sizes.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the Influence of Industrial and Climatic Variables on Communities of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Collected in Streams and Lakes in Canada’s Oil Sands Region

Arciszewski

2021

Environments

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Δ surface water temperature or chemical concentration) and thresholds (e.g. deviation of ±2 standard deviation of the mean) to be developed in support of the adaptive management strategy outlined in the Oil Sands Monitoring program to help predict future fish parameter ranges (Kilgore et al ). The use of these forecast triggers (biological and/or environmental) is also helpful in directing and evaluating mitigating efforts by management through the Environmental Effects Monitoring Adaptive Management (EEM/AM) steps, as suggested by Somers et al ().…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fish Performance Indicators Adjacent to Oil Sands Activity: Response in Performance Indicators of Slimy Sculpin in the Steepbank River, Alberta, Adjacent to Oil Sands Mining Activity

Tetreault

Bennett

Clark

et al. 2019

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since 2009, the Canadian and Alberta governments have been developing monitoring plans for surface water quality and quantity of the lower Athabasca River and its tributaries (2010)(2011)(2012)(2013). The objectives of the present study to the fish monitoring program were to 1) assess the current status of fish in a tributary of the lower Athabasca River, 2) identify existing differences between upstream reference and within the oil sands deposit exposure sites, and 3) identify trends/ changes in fish performance indicators relative to historical studies. The present study examines the fish performance indicators in slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) in the Steepbank River, Alberta, in terms of growth, gonad size, condition, and hepatic 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity as an indicator of exposure to oil-sands-related compounds. The sampling program followed historical sampling methods (1999)(2000) to provide comparable data over time with an additional upstream site (n = 2) added as development progressed. Consistent changes were documented in sculpin collected from downstream sections of the Steepbank River within the oil sands deposit (n = 2) in 2010 through 2013. Sculpin demonstrated increased liver size with corresponding induction of EROD activity consistent with historical data and reductions in energy investment relative to reproductive development and gonadal steroid production capacity. There was no consistent evidence of changes in fish performance indicators with increased surface mining development, particularly adjacent to the Steepbank River Mid site. Although physical development in the Steepbank watershed has increased over the last 15 yr, these results are consistent with historical data suggesting that the magnitude of the response in the aquatic environment adjacent to the development has not changed. Environ Toxicol Chem 2020;39:396-409. © 2019 SETAC

show abstract

“…Along with the stressors already described, such as the natural erosion of bitumen, the potentially overlapping influences in the Athabasca River also include discharge of sewage from the Fort McMurray wastewater treatment plant (FMM WWTP) [33,40,45,46] and the delivery of CoCs from upstream areas [47]. The existing literature and the occurrence of multiple stressors possibly affecting fish in the OSR suggest approaches to partition variability into potential sources are needed to identify and isolate the effects of industrial development and focus future monitoring efforts [48,49].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Influence of Sewage Phosphorus and Wet and Dry Deposition Detected in Fish Collected in the Athabasca River North of Fort McMurray

Arciszewski

McMaster

2021

Environments

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The health of fish is a primary indicator of ecosystem response in the Oil Sands Region of northeastern Alberta. However, industrial activity is accompanied by other stressors, such as the discharge of sewage, municipal activity, forest fires, and natural weathering and erosion of bitumen. To combat the spatial confounding influences, we examined white sucker (Catostomus commersonii) captured in the Athabasca River at sites over time (2011–2019) and included covariates to account for the possible sources of influence. The analyses suggest spatially heterogeneous influences of natural factors on fish, such as discharge and air temperature, but also the influence of sewage phosphorus and precipitation. Among the stressors examined here, precipitation may be the most complex and may include a mixture of sources including inputs from tributaries, urban activity, industrial development, and forest fires. Although suggestive, the attribution of variance and detection of changes are affected by sample sizes in some years; these analyses may have missed effects or misspecified important relationships, especially in males. Despite these limitations, the analyses suggest potential differences may be associated with precipitation and highlight the need to integrate robust information on known and suspected stressors in future monitoring of aquatic ecosystems in the oil sands region and beyond.

show abstract

Developing Triggers for Environmental Effects Monitoring Programs for Trout‐Perch in the Lower Athabasca River (Canada)

Cited by 12 publications

References 38 publications

Exploring the Influence of Industrial and Climatic Variables on Communities of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Collected in Streams and Lakes in Canada’s Oil Sands Region

Exploring the Influence of Industrial and Climatic Variables on Communities of Benthic Macroinvertebrates Collected in Streams and Lakes in Canada’s Oil Sands Region

Fish Performance Indicators Adjacent to Oil Sands Activity: Response in Performance Indicators of Slimy Sculpin in the Steepbank River, Alberta, Adjacent to Oil Sands Mining Activity

Potential Influence of Sewage Phosphorus and Wet and Dry Deposition Detected in Fish Collected in the Athabasca River North of Fort McMurray

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About