In February 2012, the Governments of Canada and Alberta joined together to develop a strategy for monitoring the environmental impacts of oil sands development. This partnership aimed to implement “scientifically rigorous, comprehensive, integrated and transparent environmental monitoring of the oil sands region1” to ensure that they are developed in a responsible way. This plan was referred to as the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oil Sands Monitoring (JOSM).
JOSM was designed to span three years of dedicated scientific study and produce detailed reports of any current and potential long-term cumulative effects of oil sands development on the environment. The JOSM plan followed an integrated approach with monitoring in four main component areas including Air Quality, Water, Wildlife Contaminants and Toxicology, and Biodiversity and Habitat.
The Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency (AEMERA) assumed provincial responsibility for JOSM upon the proclamation of the Protecting Alberta’s Environment Act, establishing the agency, on April 28, 2014. AEMERA now holds responsibility for the monitoring of oil sands; information gathered under JOSM will continue to be used to pinpoint holes in the research and formulate strategies to address these gaps. Moving forward, AEMERA is also responsible for implementation, design and reporting, and can determine if oil sands development is impacting the environment in the oil sand regions in Alberta.
In taking that responsibility, AEMERA has taken the same foundation as the Implementation Plan and will continue to use the monitoring results in combination with new information from our scientists, partners, and stakeholders. AEMERA will formulate a design for use in long term monitoring programs and to define which areas of oil sands development need more study.
JOSM provided AEMERA with three years of data as a foundation to produce more focused work; Fred Wrona, VP and Chief Scientist, explains how JOSM has allowed AEMERA to build a solid framework from which future programs can emerge. “We are leading the entire program. What will be changing over the years is that we will be exploring new methods, new standards for monitoring, standardizing how we report and evaluate the information, and using past JOSM data to detect change in the upcoming years. We use JOSM’s information to either continue on the same path or alter it to be more efficient and better.”
Currently, the AEMERA board approves funding for studies to ensure that the research generated from our oil sands monitoring program is independent and transparent. AEMERA receives funding for its monitoring through the Alberta government, and as such, is able to produce reports that have not been financially sponsored by any industry partners.
AEMERA’s goals for oil sands monitoring include addressing key learning gaps by undertaking detailed evaluation of activities in the oil sands region. AEMERA aims to better inform the design and implementation of future monitoring in order to address relevant questions that have been raised by key stakeholders in the region. By ensuring that stakeholder requirements are met, AEMERA will ensure that its mandate of providing high quality and credible scientific evaluation and reporting remains transparent, accessible, and objective.
Ultimately, AEMERA will use our oil sands monitoring as a jumping-off point for future leadership in environmental monitoring. “We’re aiming to be a world-integrated monitoring agency that addresses issues related to cumulative impacts of complex development, such as oil sands development,” says Fred Wrona. “Look at us and you can easily apply our programs and approach to broader environmental aspects, not just oil sands development. Our science program is complex and we’re learning how to better improve performance and regulations in order to become a world leader.”