Ecotoxicology Of Suspended And Bottom Sediments Athabasca Smoky And Peace Rivers June 1995

The objectives of this project were to re-examine sediment toxicity at sites sampled previously on the Athabasca River, including sites in the oil sands area, and to conduct toxicity testing on a number of additional sites on the Athabasca, Smoky, and Peace rivers. Investigators tested suspended and bottom sediment samples using four species of freshwater benthic invertebrates in chronic exposure studies. Endpoints measured included survival, growth (amphipod, chironomid, and mayfly) and reproduction (oligochaete worm). Test results were compared with those using standard reference sediment samples for biological quality assurance.

Presents the analytical results and spatial trends for the following contaminants in bottom sediment samples collected from northern Alberta rivers in 1994-95: polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, resin acids, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, chlorinated phenolics, polychlorinated biphenyls, extractable organic halides, toxaphene, and mercury. Sampling locations were chosen to provide broad coverage of both the Athabasca and Peace river basins, coverage of key mixing zones downstream from four pulp mills, and replication with locations sampled previously. The 1994-95 survey objectives included: determination of within-site variability in bottom sediment contamination; testing of the assumption that the sand fraction is not an important repository of contaminants; and providing a data set for comparison with earlier bottom sediment collections in 1988-89 and 1992.

An important component of the Northern River Basins Study was the original data resulting from the collection and analysis of environmental samples. Samples were collected, stored, and analysed by a number of different agencies, and an inventory of samples obtained by the Study and results data were compiled into a single electronic database to ensure future ease of access to the original data. This report describes the data contained in the database, the methods used to compile the database, the media and the nature of the samples, the collection site, and the data collected. Information is provided on which analyses were conducted on samples as well as the values of various parameters measured for the samples. All the files and the data fields that comprise the database are described in the users' guide in the report appendix.

Examines the mechanisms of natural riverine sediment production in the Northern River Basins Study area, together with the routine data for suspended sediment in the area's rivers, as background for the examination of sediment-associated contaminants. Topics examined include: the causative mechanisms and boundary conditions affecting the sediment regime, including area topography, geology, and hydrology; availability and adequacy of data on suspended sediments in the area; time trends of fluvial suspended sediment dynamics on a seasonal (open water and ice regime) and annual basis, over the long term, and in critical events; sediment sources, pathways, and fates, and sediment dynamics at basin-wide, reach, and site levels; sediment quality, including sediment-associated characteristics of pulp mill effluents and sediment-contaminant relationships; and implications for sediment-associated contaminants. Recommendations are made for monitoring and assessment of the sediment component of the area's ecosystem.

Report to the federal ministers of Environment and Indian & Northern Affairs, Alberta's Minister of Environmental Protection, and NWT's Minister of Renewable Resources. Summarises the main scientific findings of the Northern River Basins Study, which was established to examine the relationship between industrial, municipal, agricultural, and other development and the Peace, Athabasca, and Slave River basins. Reviews the characteristics of the northern river basins and their peoples, the organisation of the Study, and major findings in the areas of environmental overview, use of aquatic resources, traditional knowledge, flow regulation, fish distribution and habitat, nutrients, dissolved oxygen, contaminants, drinking water, ecosystem health, modelling, human health, and cumulative effects. Recommendations by the Study Board, First Nations, and scientific advisors regarding such issues as basin management, monitoring, research, public participation, and a successor organisation are then presented. Also includes a summary of opinions, suggestions, and recommendations expressed at 17 community workshops held throughout the northern river basins area.

Lists Northern River Basins Study technical reports by issue number, subject, and geographic area studied. Subject areas used to classify the reports are: hydrology/hydraulics, nutrients/dissolved oxygen, contaminants, food chain, drinking water, other uses, traditional knowledge, and synthesis and modelling. Ten geographic divisions are used: three each for the Athabasca and Peace Rivers, and one each of the Wapiti/Smoky rivers, Peace-Athabasca Delta, Lake Athabasca, and Rivière des Rochers/Slave River.

Describes and presents simulation results from numerical models of the transport and fate of environmental chemicals in northern Alberta rivers. The models were developed using the USEPA WASP modelling system and were structured as one-dimensional (longitudinal) models with separate, interacting water column and bed sediment compartments. Seven selected organic chemicals were simulated over 1992-93 for the Athabasca River and over 1990-91 for the Wapiti/Smoky River system. Chemicals simulated included 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro dibenzofuran, dehydroabietic acid, and phenanthrene. The models were first calibrated for sodium and total suspended solids. Organic chemicals were simulated using a set of environmental fate constants developed from a literature search, numerical estimation software, and estimation from field data. Results of initial simulations were compared to observed data and adjustments made to selected constants to improve the calibration.

Presents results of contaminant analyses of bottom sediments collected from the Peace and Athabasca river basins 1988-90 and 1992. Contaminant groups represented are the polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans, resin acids, chlorophenolic compounds, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Contaminant concentrations were correlated with percent organic carbon of the fine fraction (the fraction on which analysis was performed. Correlations between concentrations of bleached kraft mill related contaminants were also investigated and results are presented.