Source Emissions Monitoring, Oil Sands Region

Air emissions from oil sands development can come from a number of sources including industrial smokestacks, tailings ponds, transportation, and dust from mining operations. Air quality monitoring under the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for the Oil Sands is designed to determine the contribution of emissions from oil sands activities to local and regional air quality and atmospheric deposition both now and in the future. Source emission data include:

• Compiled and assessed information from existing emissions inventories to enhance the quality of high resolution forecasts and simulations of air quality in the oil sands region;

• Estimates of potential emissions to the air from tailings ponds analysed for reduced sulphur compounds (RSC), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and odour perceptibility.