Environment committee  In terms of groundwater impacts, we have a toolkit, so we know how to address the local impacts. I think the cumulative impact is an important issue, and perhaps that's something Dr. Dixon can address better than I can.

Environment committee  It's financed by a number of sources. For instance, most of our projects at the moment are financed by the Canadian Water Network—which is a federal centre of excellence—and by oil sands companies. In my case it's also financed by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Ontario Innovation Trust, and by NSERC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Environment committee  I would say it approaches 50%.

Environment committee  It's a good question. I know that you've had presentations from and discussions with the federal and provincial people. The geology is a critical part of the hydrogeology, and the Geological Survey and the Alberta Geological Survey and Alberta Environment do all those things together.

Environment committee  I think that's a good point philosophically. Oil sands mining is a human operation. Humans always undertake operations without knowing the full consequences of them. That's simply a fact of human nature. What we've relied on so far, I would say, is the operations aspects. Presumably Alberta Environment and the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board can tell you if the current operations are causing or not causing an unacceptable environmental impact.

Environment committee  Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be able to address you. As Dr. Dixon said, I'm a professor in earth and environmental sciences at Waterloo. My research has really been focused on groundwater issues in the oil sands and in the mining area of the oil sands. I have a number of collaborations at Waterloo, the University of Alberta, and the University of British Columbia.