The statement was part of a summary of the early results of the joint monitoring plan, which was introduced in response to criticism from scientists that an earlier, industry-led monitoring program was inadequate.
The improved monitoring plan is now managed by government scientists, instead of industry, with an increased amount of sites used to collect the data.
Previously released internal Environment Canada records have expressed numerous concerns about oilsands impacts, particularly related to the “accelerated pace of development.”
The new monitoring plan results indicate that some water levels were not meeting safety standards set by the Canadian Council of Environment Ministers, and that some air pollution levels were comparable to a major metropolitan region such as Toronto.
A senior industry official said companies supported transparency and also wanted to ensure scientists provide context to explain how to interpret the new data.
“Not everybody will understand the numbers, so people will need to hear from the scientific community as to what those numbers mean,” said David Pryce, a vice-president of operations at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.
The governments also said most of the pollutants were below environmental guidelines and that some natural characteristics of the Athabasca River were contributing to the contamination.
Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent and Alberta Environment Minister Diana McQueen said the new website was demonstrating efforts by both governments at being open and transparent.
“I’m sure there will be instances where we will learn and we may need to make regulatory changes,” said McQueen. “That’s the whole point . . . it’s about a strong economy, but it’s also about environmental protection.”
Both governments also admitted they didn’t have clear baseline data showing the state of the region’s air, water and wildlife, prior to development, but Kent said the plan would continue to monitor development and expansion, without any need for a moratorium on new oilsands projects.
Alberta Premier Alison Redford said the data would improve over time.
“It speaks to exactly what we think is important, which is to make sure that we’re having informed debates with read data about the impact that we may see with respect to development, and to make sure that we manage that well,” she said after an unrelated news event in Sherwood Park, a bedroom community of Edmonton.
Kent’s department has previously suggested in internal briefing notes that it was not only concerned with environmental impacts of individual projects, but with the cumulative effects of the industry, including terrain disturbance, disruption of groundwater regimes and contamination of surface water.
The new website launch, on Earth Day, also coincided with a strongly worded statement by Gov. Gen. David Johnston that called on Canadians to be “curators rather than plunderers of this earth.”
But Kent said he has observed “spectacular” improvements to the industry’s environmental protection efforts, since he first visited an oilsands tailings pond a few decades ago in his former career as a reporter.
“I think, certainly in the course of my lifetime (and) my experience in the oilsands area, the improvements of technologies and practices — its corporate social responsibility at the industry — are nothing less than spectacular,” said Kent, explaining that U.S. politicians could now use the new data to address concerns from constituents about the impacts of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that could help the oilsands industry get more of its heavy oil to markets.
Pryce also said that companies were now getting invoices from the Alberta government and sending payments for the estimated $50 million in annual costs associated with the new monitoring efforts.
Federal government officials were not immediately able to say whether they had received any payments.
Kent said the government would continue to increase the number of monitoring sites over the next few years until the program is fully up and running.
The new website includes information about impacts on air, water and wildlife, but does not include data about greenhouse gas emissions, which are collected and reported separately by Environment Canada.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Mike De Souza
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