Developing Triggers for Environmental Effects Monitoring Programs for Trout-Perch in the Lower Athabasca River (Canada).

Baseline variations in trout-perch energy use (growth, gonad size) and energy storage (condition, liver size) were characterized between 2009 and 2015 in 8 reaches of the Athabasca River (AB, Canada), including 2 reaches upstream of the city of Fort McMurray (AB, Canada) and 6 reaches downstream of Fort McMurray among existing oil sands operations. Generalized linear models, used to account for background variation, indicated that fork length, gonad size, and liver size decreased, whereas body weight increased, in relation to river discharge, for both male and female trout-perch. Air temperature was positively correlated with liver size and negatively correlated with gonad size and body weight for females, but only positively correlated with gonad weight for males. These linear models explained approximately 20 to 25% of the variation in adjusted body size, and upward of 80% of the variation in adjusted body weight, liver weight, and gonad weight. Residuals from linear models were used to estimate normal ranges of variation for each of the fish population performance measures. Combined, the models and normal ranges can be used to assess subsequent monitoring data, providing potential triggers for follow-up monitoring activities. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:0-0. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:1890-1901. © 2019 SETAC.

Variation in toxicity and ecological risks associated with some oil sands groundwaters.

The surface mining of oil sands deposits requires the removal of groundwater to stabilize the deposit (depressurization) and make it safe for mining. The chemistry and toxicity of deep groundwaters (from 45 to 144 m below an active mining operation) were characterized to determine if the release of groundwaters would pose a risk to a receiving aquatic environment. Concentrations of conventional chemicals such as nutrients and metals were generally below CCME chronic guidelines. Concentrations of oil sands naphthenic acids (NAs) varied depending on the method of measurement and were routinely >1 mg L-1. Groundwaters rarely caused lethality to fish and invertebrates in standard acute and chronic toxicity tests. Algal cell production was negatively correlated with chlorides and potentially negatively with NAs. Other chronic toxicity variations were less obviously correlated with measured chemistry. The groundwaters had moderately-high oxygen demand (2 to 33 mg L-1), likely associated with nutrients and organic substances, and thus have the potential to enrich receiving surface water environments if left untreated and depending on the receiving environment. This paper presents for the first time a comprehensive (3 year) pairing of water chemistry and toxicity data on groundwaters collected from aquifer depressurization wells below an active oil sands operation. These data will contribute to a better understanding of the environmental risk these waters potentially pose, and ultimately, to the improvement of water management strategies and the reduction of the overall surface mining footprint of oil sands operations.

Developing and applying control charts to detect changes in water chemistry parameters measured in the Athabasca River near the oil sands: A tool for surveillance monitoring.

Control charting is a simple technique to identify change and is well suited for use in water quality programs. Control charts accounting for covariation associated with discharge and in some cases time were used to explore example and representative variables routinely measured in the Athabasca River near the oil sands area for indications of change. The explored variables include 5 major ions (chloride, sodium, sulfate, calcium, magnesium), 5 total metals (aluminum, iron, thallium, molybdenum, vanadium), and total suspended solids at two sites straddling the developments north of Fort McMurray. Regression equations developed from reference data (1988-2009) were used to predict observations and calculate residuals from later test data (2010-2016). Evidence of change was sought in the deviation of residual errors from the test period compared with the patterns expected and defined from probability distributions of the reference residuals using the odds ratio. In most cases, the patterns in test residuals were not statistically different from those expected from the reference period at either site, especially when data were examined annually. However, differences were found at both locations, more were found at the downstream site, and more differences emerged as data accumulated and were analyzed over time. In sum, the analyses at the downstream site suggest higher concentrations than predicted in most major ions, but the source of the changes is uncertain. In contrast, the concentrations of most metals at during the test period were lower than expected, which may be related to deposition patterns of materials or weathering of minerals during construction activities of the 2000s which influence the reference data used. The analyses also suggest alternative approaches may be necessary to understand change in some variables. Despite this, the results support the use of control charts to detect changes in water chemistry parameters and the value of the tool in surveillance phases of long-term and adaptive monitoring programs. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;37:2296-2311. © 2018 SETAC.

An Adaptive Environmental Effects Monitoring Framework for Assessing the Influences of Liquid Effluents on Benthos, Water, and Sediments in Aquatic Receiving Environments.

Environmental effects monitoring (EEM) has been traditionally used to evaluate the effects of existing facilities discharging liquid effluents into natural receiving waters in Canada. EEM also has the potential to provide feedback to an ongoing project in an adaptive management context and can inform the design of future projects. EEM, consequently, can and should also be used to test the predictions of effects related to new projects. Despite EEM's potential for widespread applicability, challenges related to the effective implementation of EEM include the use of appropriate study designs and the adoption of tiers for increasing or decreasing monitoring intensity. Herein we describe a template for designing and implementing a 6-tiered EEM program that utilizes information from the project-planning and predevelopment baseline data collection stages to build on forecasts from the initial environmental impact assessment project-design stage and that feeds into an adaptive management process. Movement between the 6 EEM tiers is based on the exceedance of baseline monitoring triggers, forecast triggers, and management triggers at various stages in the EEM process. To distinguish these types of triggers, we review the historical development of numeric and narrative triggers as applied to chemical (water and sediment) and biological (plankton, benthos, fish) endpoints. We also provide an overview of historical study design issues and discuss how the 6 EEM tiers and associated triggers influence the temporal-spatial experimental design options and how the information gained through EEM could be used in an adaptive management context. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:552-566. © 2018 SETAC.

Using ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry and toxicity identification techniques to characterize the toxicity of oil sands process-affected water: The case for classical naphthenic acids.

Previous assessments of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) toxicity were hampered by lack of high-resolution analytical analysis, use of nonstandard toxicity methods, and variability between OSPW samples. We integrated ultrahigh-resolution mass spectrometry with a toxicity identification evaluation (TIE) approach to quantitatively identify the primary cause of acute toxicity of OSPW to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The initial characterization of OSPW toxicity indicated that toxicity was associated with nonpolar organic compounds, and toxicant(s) were further isolated within a range of discrete methanol fractions that were then subjected to Orbitrap mass spectrometry to evaluate the contribution of naphthenic acid fraction compounds to toxicity. The results showed that toxicity was attributable to classical naphthenic acids, with the potency of individual compounds increasing as a function of carbon number. Notably, the mass of classical naphthenic acids present in OSPW was dominated by carbon numbers ≤16; however, toxicity was largely a function of classical naphthenic acids with ≥17 carbons. Additional experiments found that acute toxicity of the organic fraction was similar when tested at conductivities of 400 and 1800 µmhos/cm and that rainbow trout fry were more sensitive to the organic fraction than larval fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). Collectively, the results will aid in developing treatment goals and targets for removal of OSPW toxicity in water return scenarios both during operations and on mine closure. Environ Toxicol Chem 2017;36:3148-3157. © 2017 SETAC.

Testing against "normal" with environmental data.

Normal ranges are some fraction of a reference distribution deemed to represent an expected condition, typically 95%. They are frequently used as the basis for generic criteria for monitoring programs designed to test whether a sample is outside of "normal," as in reference-condition approach studies. Normal ranges are also the basis for criteria for more classic environmental effects monitoring programs designed to detect differences in mean responses between reference and exposure areas. Limits on normal ranges are estimated with error that varies depending largely on sample size. Direct comparison of a sample or a mean to estimated limits of a normal range will, with some frequency, lead to incorrect conclusions about whether a sample or a mean is inside or outside the normal range when the sample or the mean is near the limit. Those errors can have significant costs and risk implications. This article describes tests based on noncentral distributions that are appropriate for quantifying the likelihood that samples or means are outside a normal range. These noncentral tests reverse the burden of evidence (assuming that the sample or mean is at or outside normal), and thereby encourage proponents to collect more robust sample sizes that will demonstrate that the sample or mean is not at the limits or beyond the normal range. These noncentral equivalence and interval tests can be applied to uni- and multivariate responses, and to simple (e.g., upstream vs downstream) or more complex (e.g., before vs after, or upstream vs downstream) study designs. Statistical procedures for the various tests are illustrated with benthic invertebrate community data collected as part of the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP) in the vicinity of oil sands operations in northern Alberta, Canada. An Excel workbook with functions and calculations to carry out the various tests is provided in the online Supplemental Data. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2017;13:188-197. © 2016 SETAC.

A comparison of the sensitivity of stream benthic community indices to effects associated with mines, pulp and paper mills, and urbanization.

This study examined the relative sensitivities of seven commonly used indices of stream benthic community composition and three multivariate indices to effects associated with mines, pulp and paper mills, and urbanization. The indices included total abundance, number of taxa, diversity (H'), evenness, Hilsenhoff's biotic index (HBI), the BioMAP water quality index (WQI), the percent model affinity (PMA), and the first three ordination axes from a correspondence analysis. The second objective of the study was to determine the degree of redundancy among these indices. Six data sets (two from each of the three types of development) were used to address the objectives. In each data set, replicate benthic samples were collected from reference areas as well as one or more downstream areas exposed to a point-source or non-point-source discharge. The PMA approach and the ordination axes indicated significant differences between the reference and downstream communities for all six data sets (p < 0.05). With the exception of H', each of the other metrics revealed significant effects associated with one or two, but not all three, types of development. For example, the HBI and WQI indicated significant effects associated with pulp and paper mills and urbanization, but not mining. In all studies, effect sizes (i.e., the standardized difference between means for the reference and exposed areas expressed in units of standard deviations [SDs]) exceeded 2 SDs. However, effect sizes for the PMA and the first or second ordination axis scores were generally larger than effect sizes for the other metrics, indicating that these indices were often the most sensitive indicators of development. In addition, a high degree of redundancy was found among the various metrics, perhaps because the effects were large (i.e., >2 SDs). The greater sensitivity of the ordination axes and the PMA approach emphasizes their value as indices of benthic community composition. As a result, we recommend that any suite of indices used for assessing benthic communities should include these types of multivariate metrics.