High Levels of Lead, Mercury, 11 Other Toxins Found In Athabasca River, Refuting Official Position

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A study set to be published on Monday has found elevated levels of mercury, lead and eleven other toxic elements in the oil sands’ main fresh water source, the Athabasca River, refuting long-standing government and industry claims that water quality there hasn’t been affected by oil sands development.

The author of the study, University of Alberta biological scientist David Schindler, criticized the province and industry for an “absurd” system that obfuscates or fails to discover essential data about the river. “I think they are significant enough that they should trigger some interest in a better monitoring program than we have,” he said. The Athabasca has increasingly become a flashpoint for debate. Earlier this year, Environment Minister Jim Prentice dismissed Dr. Schindler’s previous peer-reviewed work as “allegations.”

Oil surfaces naturally in the Athabasca and its tributaries as the river erodes the bitumen below it. The government argues it is this, not industry, that is the main cause of the pollution.

“The erosion of natural sources is huge. It far exceeds anything you'd be able to detect from the industrial component,” said Preston McEachern, head of science, research and innovation for Alberta Environment. He argues Dr. Schindler’s conclusions don’t accurately take that into account. “There's nothing I would say the government absolutely disagrees with – other than the fact that in his paper, the context of the natural sources is not expressed as accurately as our data indicates it is.”

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/prairies/elevated-levels-of-toxins-found-in-athabasca-river/article1689578/