Weaknesses monitoring oilsands pollution must be corrected, report says
By Mike De Souza, Postmedia News
December 21, 2010
OTTAWA — There are "significant" weaknesses in monitoring pollution from Alberta's oilsands sector that must be corrected, a scientific panel concluded in a report released Tuesday.
The findings were submitted to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government last week after a two-month analysis that was commissioned by former environment minister Jim Prentice.
"The minister asked the panel whether or not Canadians had a first-class state-of-the-art monitoring system in place in the oilsands," said the report from the panel, chaired by Liz Dowdeswell. "In the view of the panel, the answer is no — but . . . We are convinced that the current activities could be transformed into a system that will provide credible data for decisions."
But despite some positive signs and strengths, the panel noted "significant shortcomings in the monitoring system as a whole."
Prentice created the panel in response to independent reports the existing industry-led monitoring program was inadequate and failing to address environmental and health-related concerns linked to pollution from the industry.
"We believe that unless these shortcomings are addressed, the debate on the environmental performance in the oilsands will continue to revolve around the adequacy of the data collected and not, as it should be, on data interpretation and implications," said the panel.
"Until this situation is fixed there will continue to be uncertainty and public distrust in the environmental performance of the oilsands industry and government oversight."
The panel also concluded polluter-pay principles should apply within the structure of the monitoring system.
"The increasing regional, national and international public awareness and concern related to the credibility of the monitoring programs, accuracy of the scientific reporting and overall environmental performance of the oilsands industry is not just an Alberta issue, but has become a Canadian and an international concern."
Environment Minister John Baird said the government had heard the panel's message "loud and clear," and would work with the Alberta government to design a new monitoring system within 90 days that would be implemented as soon as possible.
http://www.canada.com/business/Oilsands+monitoring+must+corrected+Report...
