Elevated levels of toxins found in Athabasca River (oil sands)

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/prairies/elevated-levels-of-toxins-found-in-athabasca-river/article1689578/?cmpid=nl-news1


Finding refutes long-standing claims that water quality hasn’t been affected by oil sands development


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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.

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The study, to be published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found the oil industry “releases” all 13 of the United States' Environmental Protection Agency’s so-called priority pollutants, including mercury and lead, into the Athabasca at concentrations that are higher near industry during the summer. In winter, before a melt, only levels of mercury, nickel and thallium were elevated near industry

Overall levels of seven elements – mercury, lead, cadmium, copper, nickel, silver and zinc – exceed those recommended by Alberta or Canada for the protection of aquatic life, it said, concluding the “oil sands industry substantially increases loadings” of toxins into the river.

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Joe Obad, associate director of Alberta advocacy group Water Matters, called the study “the most detailed independent, peer-reviewed work we have seen so far on mercury and lead” in the oil sands.
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another river gone