Natural Systems

Mine Reclamation Assessment and Research Services
Since 1994, Jacques Whitford AXYS, through our partnership with C.E. Jones, has provided mine reclamation assessment and research services to the Elk Valley Coal Corporation’s surface metallurgical coal mines in southeast BC annually. The goals of this program are to assist in the development of site- and objective specific reclamation techniques, and to assess and document the long-term success of the reclamation programs. This work consists of:

• identifying post-closure end land-use objectives (e.g., wildlife habitat, commercial forestry) and corresponding reclamation techniques to achieve these objectives;
• testing reclamation techniques through small-scale reclamation research plots and operational-scale trials; and
• assessing the success of the site-wide operational reclamation program through monitoring programs focused on vegetation productivity, wildlife habitat suitability, and long-term patterns of ecosystem development.

This work directly contributes to the sustainability of the metallurgical coal mining industry in British Columbia and ensures that productive ecosystems and land uses are returned to the landscape following intensive resource extraction. Annual reports are submitted to Elk Valley Coal Corporation and to the BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.

Wood Buffalo Environmental Association, Biomonitoring Program
Initiated in early 2007, Jacques Whitford AXYS, through their partnership with C.E. Jones, designed and began implementing a biomonitoring program to map and assess relative levels of air pollution based on lichen (vegetation) sampling and analysis.

Rapid industrial development in the Athabasca Oil Sands (AOS) region of northeastern Alberta has resulted in increased nitrogen and sulphur-based emissions. Currently, there is limited understanding of the largest cause/contributors of the pollutants and where they are deposited in the highest amounts. In addition, air-quality monitoring in the region has indicated elevated levels of nitrogen and sulphur species, but the relative contribution of various sources (e.g., local industry, long-range transport, biogenic sources) is not known.

Lichens have been shown to be affordable and effective biomonitors for nitrogen and sulphur deposition both worldwide and in the AOS region. A new biomonitoring program is being implemented in 2008 to map the patterns of air pollution using epiphytic lichens (vegetation) as bioindicators.

Collections of two lichen species (Hypogymnia physodes and Evernia mesomorpha) will be made at over 300 sites within a 150 km radius surrounding the oil sands operations. All samples will be analyzed for total nitrogen and sulphur, and a subset of samples will be analyzed for a suite of metals and trace elements.

Data from this sampling program will be interpreted to:

• determine where the highest amounts of nitrogen and sulphur are being deposited in the area;
• contrast and compare the predicted outcomes and the actual results;
• identify specific source types in the region that contribute to elemental enrichment in lichen, such as emissions from diesel fleets, upgrading stacks, tailings impoundments, in-situ operations, light vehicle traffic, potential biogenic sources, and long-range transport.

This information will be used to develop a more realistic understanding of nitrogen and sulphur deposition patterns in the region, to identify the extent and magnitude of deposition from local industrial operations relative to other potential sources, and to aid in air-quality model refinement.

Project results, along with information from a number of other studies, will contribute to management of industrial emissions in northeastern Alberta, and will ultimately be used to sustainably manage development of the regional oil sands industry, by allowing stakeholders to correctly assess and balance potential economic benefits and environmental costs of industrial resource extraction. Project results will be reported in document produced for the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association, with an anticipated report delivery date in 2010.

Integrated Wetland Monitoring Program
In 2004, Jacques Whitford AXYS and its project partners developed and began implementing an integrated wetland monitoring program for the Surmont insitu oil sands project in northeastern Alberta. The objectives of the program are to measure and detect changes in ground and surface water quantity and quality as well as wetland vegetation.

Sites located in the vicinity of the project have been monitored for ground water, surface water and wetland vegetation on a seasonal basis since 2004. To understand if change is a result of project withdrawals of groundwater and/or alteration of surface water flow from project infrastructure instead of from natural fluctuations in climate, control sites located at a distance from development and with similar hydrogeomorphic conditions are also examined seasonally. Annual reports are submitted to Alberta Environment as part of ongoing project approval requirements.