The Athabasca oil sands of northern Canada are a significant component of the world’s petroleum resources, about one-third the size of known reserves of conventional crude oil in the entire world. In 2003, Hatfield established a Fort McMurray office in support of a flagship project, the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (see RAMP), which allowed Hatfield to establish long-term relationships with industry, government, Aboriginal peoples and the local communities.
Since that time, Hatfield has conducted over thirty projects within the oil sands region providing environmental, GIS/remote sensing, data management and project management expertise, with emphasis on aquatic resources. The following is a partial list of services/projects conducted to date:
- Environmental monitoring of climate and hydrology, water and sediment quality, benthic invertebrate communities, fish populations and acid-sensitive lakes.
- Baseline inventories and environmental impact assessments of aquatic resources related to proposed industrial developments, with emphasis on fish and fish habitat.
- Monitoring of wetland habitats related to oil sands development.
- Construction monitoring and fish salvage operations related to instream activities by industry.
- Community-level GIS database development.
- Human health monitoring program related to regional air quality.
- Integrating remote sensing into sustainability development reporting.
- Use of remote sensing and GIS for mapping the progressive mining and reclamation activities within the oil sands region.
Being able to understand how the oil sands impact the environment through detailed studies allows for the remediation of current impacts and the mitigation of future impacts.
