Canadian metal mining environmental effects monitoring program

2003 ◽  
Vol 107 ◽  
pp. 69-74
Author(s):  
D. Audet ◽  
N. Ali
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Metal Mining ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

Overview of the Metal Mining Environmental Effects Monitoring Program

2002 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Dumaresq ◽  
Kathleen Hedley ◽  
Robert Michelutti
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Metal Mining ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
Mining Effluent ◽  
Fisheries Resources ◽  
Mine Effluent ◽  
Fisheries Act ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

Abstract The amended Metal Mining Effluent Regulations (MMER), will include a requirement for mines to conduct Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) under the authority of the Fisheries Act. The EEM program will determine if mine effluent is having an effect on fish, fish habitat and the use of fisheries resources. The metal mining EEM program strives to balance site-specific requirements with the need for national consistency. The program uses a tiered approach to monitoring, where the results of previous monitoring determine the frequency and extent of monitoring subsequently required. The frequency and extent will therefore vary depending on whether there are observed effects.

Investigation of Cause in Pulp and Paper Environmental Effects Monitoring

2005 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Mark Hewitt ◽  
Monique G. Dubé ◽  
Sandra C. Ribey ◽  
Joseph M. Culp ◽  
Richard Lowell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Pulp And Paper ◽  
Sufficient Information ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Pulp Mills ◽  
Metal Mining ◽  
Scientific Disciplines ◽  
Specific Stage ◽  
Metabolic Disruption ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

Abstract Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) Programs in Canada have been developed for the pulp and paper and metal mining industries. The EEM Program conducts cyclical evaluations of receiving environments to determine whether effects exist when facilities comply with existing regulations. Investigation of cause (IOC) is a specific stage in the EEM Program that is used after environmental effects in fish and/or benthos have been detected, confirmed and their extent and magnitude have been documented. This paper presents an overview of the processes associated with this phase of monitoring. The objective of an IOC is to obtain sufficient information so that the source of the effect can be identified and removed, or its effects reduced to an acceptable level. The initial direction of an IOC is dependent upon the type of response patterns observed for fish and/or benthos during EEM cycles and extent/magnitude studies. The framework presented in this paper is based on an amalgamation of research projects conducted at Canadian pulp mills over the last decade and selected studies are summarized as examples. It also represents an integration of several research philosophies and scientific disciplines. The framework is based on national response patterns from the second cycle of pulp and paper EEM studies. IOCs are directed into either an eutrophication-based investigation or a contaminant-based investigation (including metabolic disruption in fish). The framework is constructed with a progression of investigative levels designed to provide more information on the causative factors. Each of these phases also represents a decision point for stakeholders to determine if sufficient information has been attained about the causal factor(s) and whether the IOC should be concluded. It is expected that the framework will evolve with a growing knowledge base of causal factors, as facilities enter into this phase of the EEM Program.

Seasonal reproductive patterns and recommended sampling times for sentinel fish species used in environmental effects monitoring programs in Canada

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (NA) ◽  
pp. 115-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy J. Barrett ◽  
Kelly R. Munkittrick
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Reproductive Strategy ◽  
Mining Industry ◽  
Pulp And Paper ◽  
Reproductive Pattern ◽  
Metal Mining ◽  
Reproductive Patterns ◽  
Sampling Times ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

Canada’s environmental effects monitoring (EEM) program is currently in its fifth cycle of monitoring for the pulp and paper industry and second cycle of monitoring for the metal mining industry. More than 60 different sentinel fish species have been used in the EEM fish population surveys and reproductive impacts have been identified as an issue of concern in the pulp and paper program. A review of the literature was conducted to obtain details of the reproductive biology of each fish species that has been used in EEM studies in Canada. Using available data on seasonal changes in gonadosomatic indices, the seasonal reproductive patterns of Canadian fish species were divided into categories based on reproductive strategy and the timing of initiation of gonadal recrudescence. Recommended sampling times were developed for each reproductive pattern based on periods of temporal stability, minimum variability, and maximum value in gonadosomatic indices within a reproductive cycle. The reproductive strategy, spawning time, spawning temperature, and recommended sampling time were provided for the each sentinel fish species as well as life history characteristics including longevity, age and size at maturity, and mobility. Examination of the fish surveys using small bodied forage species from the EEM pulp and paper program revealed that approximately 72% of these studies were not conducted at the developed recommended sampling times and the magnitude of impacts may be underestimated by failing to sample at the recommended time.

scholarly journals Principles and Challenges for Multi-Stakeholder Development of Focused, Tiered, and Triggered, Adaptive Monitoring Programs for Aquatic Environments

Diversity ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Kelly R. Munkittrick ◽  
Tim J. Arciszewski ◽  
Michelle A. Gray
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Aquatic Environments ◽  
Paper Mills ◽  
Monitoring Programs ◽  
Adaptive Monitoring ◽  
Working Groups ◽  
Multi Stakeholder ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

In Canada, there is almost 30 years of experience in developing tiered and triggered adaptive monitoring programs focused on looking at whether environmental concerns remain when pulp and paper mills, or metal mines, are in compliance with their discharge limits. These environmental effects monitoring programs were based on nationally standardized designs. Many of the programs have been developed through multi-stakeholder working groups, and the evolution of the program faced repeated frictions and differing opinions on how to design environmental monitoring programs. This paper describes key guidance to work through the initial steps in program design, and includes scientific advice based on lessons learned from the development of the Canadian aquatic environmental effects monitoring program.

Toxicity assessment in marine sediment for the Terra Nova environmental effects monitoring program (1997–2010)

2014 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 26-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra A. Whiteway ◽  
Michael D. Paine ◽  
Trudy A. Wells ◽  
Elisabeth M. DeBlois ◽  
Bruce W. Kilgour ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Marine Sediment ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Toxicity Assessment ◽  
Terra Nova ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

Sublethal Toxicity Findings by the Pulp and Paper Industry for Cycles 1 and 2 of the Environmental Effects Monitoring Program

2002 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard P. Scroggins ◽  
Jennifer A. Miller ◽  
Anne I. Borgmann ◽  
John B. Sprague
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Effects ◽  
Paper Industry ◽  
Monitoring Program ◽  
Pulp Mill ◽  
Toxicity Tests ◽  
Secondary Treatment ◽  
Sublethal Toxicity ◽  
Biological Surveys ◽  
Pulp Mill Effluents ◽  
Environmental Effects Monitoring

Abstract Sublethal toxicity tests successfully measured the improved quality of pulp mill effluents from the first cycle of environmental effects monitoring (1992–1996) to the second cycle (1997–2000). Test endpoints showed notable shifts to higher concentrations (less toxic). During the second cycle of monitoring, significantly more tests showed no effect in full-strength effluent. Five case studies were considered as part of this exercise. Most of the improvement came with installation of secondary treatment. Twelve Ontario mills with secondary treatment showed reduced toxicity, compared to results with primary treatment. All 29 sets of sublethal data showed higher IC25s during the second cycle, and 23 of these differences were statistically significant. Any other changes between the two cycles of study caused only marginal overall improvement in toxicity, judging by 12 freshwater mills in British Columbia which had secondary treatment during both cycles. Sublethal tests successfully predicted the zone of potential effect in receiving water, agreeing with effects observed in biological surveys. Overlapping zones from multiple discharges could also be demonstrated. In a situation near Niagara Falls, sublethal tests estimated the proportions of toxic loading that four mills contributed to one water body. The prediction was realistic; the actual toxicity found for a mixed effluent was 57% of that predicted from separate toxicities. The conservative prediction agrees with the usual less-than-additive sublethal action of combined toxicants.

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