Evidence of meeting #28 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 40th Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was research.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
Probably in two years when a Ph.D. student finishes at Waterloo and a Ph.D. student finishes at the University of Alberta. We're looking at both biological and chemical remediation approaches.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Generally with respect to the reclamation process, do either one of you have any recommendations on how to improve or speed up that process? Have you touched on that through any of your research? Or is that at a higher level?
Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
My research hasn't really dealt with that part of reclamation.
Vice-President, University Research and Professor of Biology, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
I've not been involved with what I'll call systems design and the working out of schedules associated with different end points as to when this is all supposed to happen.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Dr. Dixon, there's a new water institute at the University of Waterloo. Will it have any potential involvement on this issue of the impact of the oil sands on water?
Vice-President, University Research and Professor of Biology, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
There's the potential for that. We have 100 out of the 1,000 faculty members at the University of Waterloo. So 10% of our faculty work on the area of water. We already have a number of colleagues who work in the oil sands area. I would suggest the work I do probably will come under the institute, now that it has been formed.
I'm not implying in any way that the institute is the be-all and end-all of oil sands water research activity, but we're more focused in this area than we have been in the past.
Conservative
Peter Braid Conservative Kitchener—Waterloo, ON
Thank you again for being here.
Mr. Chair, I'm going to give my final time to Mr. Warawa.
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
Thank you.
There is a research paper you mentioned on page 6 of your brief that refers to the Tar Island dike, and you said the research paper has recently been accepted for publication.
Would we be able to get a copy of that?
Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
Certainly we can give you a copy of the galley prints. They should be available right now. I can send it to the clerk, or however you wish.
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
That would be wonderful, and it would be distributed to the committee.
Part of our review of the oil sands was looking at the new technologies regarding in situ, and 80% of the natural resource of the oil sands is going to be processed using in situ. There's a new technology called heel to toe. Are you familiar with that technology?
Vice-President, University Research and Professor of Biology, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
So your focus at this point is on the 20% of the resource, which is open pit mining and the tailing ponds that go along with that.
Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
We have researchers in the Canadian Water Network who are involved a bit more in those areas, but neither Dr. Dixon nor I are active in the in situ. As I recommended to Ms. Duncan, I think this is an area that obviously requires additional focus. I think the federal government has resources that could usefully be put in there.
Vice-President, University Research and Professor of Biology, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
I've had some peripheral interest. On things like SAGD, when you get it out of the ground there are still some water issues, potentially some small amounts of water that need to be dealt with. I started at one point to look at a bit of the toxicity of that, but frankly I found this stuff more interesting.
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
For my final question back I'll go back to the Tar Island dike. We've each been given copies of DVDs, one being Downstream, and I forget what the name of the other one was. I think Mr. Trudeau is one of the stars in that DVD. But we've seen deformed fish--the goldeneye with the two jaws.
Vice-President, University Research and Professor of Biology, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
It's not two jaws.
Conservative
Mark Warawa Conservative Langley, BC
My question is, is there evidence of direct seepage from the dike directly into the Athabasca?
Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
Yes.
Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
The volumes aren't known. The paper I'll give you is a modelling study that gives a number. Something in the order of 67 litres per second is what the modelling study presents. But that isn't “ground truthed” at all.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
Dr. Barker, you have some homework. I was a professor who used to assign homework, but I'm going to assign some homework to you. Mr. Calkins had asked you to put together more information on the reclamation projects, and Mr. Warawa has asked for the research paper on the Suncor Tar Island dike.
Mr. Scarpaleggia.
Liberal
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
I think Dr. Dixon mentioned he had done a workshop with Environment Canada officials, some sort of meeting with them where he had suggested some research that they could do. I'm wondering if that would be public information.
Vice-President, University Research and Professor of Biology, University of Waterloo, As an Individual
I have a PowerPoint deck that was associated with that. To be perfectly honest it's the hour and a half version of what you have here that I'll provide. I'm doing it again as a webinar for Fisheries and Oceans. Perhaps I'll send you the date for that as well.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Bezan
If both you gentlemen would send that information to the clerk, Mr. Radford, we'd appreciate that.
I have a final question for you as chair. In the testimony this morning you were talking about those end-pit lakes and about how at some point in time you have to actually just do the project and monitor it for the next 10 to 15 years. My question is, should it be done on a smaller scale than what's being proposed? You're talking about 50 hectares right now. Should it be done maybe on a smaller scale on a shorter-term basis just to see what the impact is going to be?