Third-party Reviews of Oil Sands Developments, Water Components

Location

Fort McMurray, Alberta

Expertise

Regulatory Authorizations

Associated completed scientiﬁc reviews of the surface water quality, hydrology, groundwater, and aquatic resources components of several major environmental impact assessments (ElAs) for oil sands steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) projects located north and south of Fort McMurray.

Our water experts along with a team of consultants evaluated the completeness of various SAGD project applications and ElAs.

We filed Supplemental Information Requests (SlRs) on behalf of government, to ask for clariﬁcation or additional analyses, and sometimes additional field work to ensure that the proponents adhered to the Terms of Reference. The reviews addressed design plans, site suitability, surface and ground water quality and quantity, aquatic resources, proposed monitoring programs, and methods of minimizing the use and release of substances. We also evaluated the adequacy of the proponent’s responses to SIRs.

Once all SIRs were addressed by the proponent, we discussed the “transfer of knowledge”, followed by recommending completeness of the applications to Alberta.