Studies question assumptions on industrial damage to Wood Buffalo park

New research suggests Canada's largest national park is not drying out from upstream hydro dams or being contaminated by the oilsands.

Recently published papers from scientists at the University ofWaterloo question previous studies done for the federalgovernmentand the United Nations as well as long-held conclusions fromIndigenous people.

"Our findings counter widespread perceptions," said RolandHall, an aquatic ecologist who is one of the co-authors."There'sbeen lots of controversy and claims that weren't necessarily supported by data."

Others say the jury is still out.

"[The scientists] overstate their position, stretching theapplicability of their limited dataset," said Melody Lepine of theMikisew Cree First Nation.

The band has long voiced concerns aboutits traditional land in northern Alberta's Peace-Athabasca Delta andWood Buffalo National Park.

Water levels dropping

The park is one of the world's largest freshwater deltas and aWorld Heritage Site.

But its water levels have been dropping, which the Mikisew blamelargely on B.C. Hydro's W.A.C. Bennett Dam. They also say contaminants havebeen flowing downstream from the oilsands.

In 2014, the Mikisew voiced concerns to UNESCO, which askedCanada to assess the park's 45,000 square kilometresof grasslands,wetlands and waterways.

That study found ecological health was declining from climatechange, dams and industry. It also noted the proposedTeck Frontieroilsands mine, waiting for federal cabinet approval, is only 20kilometres south of the park.

UNESCO is considering the park's status while Parks Canadaconsiders a $27.5-million plan to rescue it.

But after analyzing 150 years worth of lake and delta sedimentcores, Hall said dams and industry aren't the problem.

Parts of the delta are drying out and climate change may play apart, he said. But the biggest factor, Hall said, is the EmbarrasRiver, which redirected large volumes of water when it broke itsbanks in 1982.

"It's probably the biggest hydrological event of the century andyou don't even find it mentioned," said Hall.

What's more, researchers found that the delta didn't start dryingout until the 1980s. The W.A.C. Bennett Dam was built in 1968.

The cores, which were examined for six heavy metals associatedwith oilsands, revealed changes over time that predate development.

"We see flat lines, no rising trends," Hall said.

Joshua Kurek, an ecologist at Mount Allison University in NewBrunswick, was not involved in the study, but called the papersvaluable.

"We have a scarcity of observations and their approach providesconvincing evidence of fairly stable baselines," he said.

'Not the final answer'

But Kurek pointed out that industry releases many more chemicalsthan those considered by the researchers. As well, Kurek noted, thecores were taken from a small area of the delta far from oilsandsmines.

"It's definitely not the final answer."

Lepine said in an email that the research didn't test forcontaminants other studies have found, including mercury,arsenicand many carcinogenic chemicals. And the paper doesn't look at thedam's impact on the Peace River, she added.

Hall, who has been working in the area for 20 years, said conflicting theories speak to how little data is available on thelarge, complex, remote region and how hard it is to study.

"It's not an easy place to figure stuff out."

He suggests others may have let assumptions influence them.

"Almost from Day 1, it was anticipated that [the dam]wouldcause negative changes," Hall said. "That idea has been in people's minds for so long that other possibilities are not beingexplored."

He stands by the conclusions in his papers.

"The extent to which industrial developments have altered thedelta are not as bad as feared.

"It doesn't mean industry can't change things in the future. This system is still very much acting like a natural system, but there is a strong need for continued monitoring."

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