Oilsands may impact Sask.

James Wood, February 21, 2008, Saskatchewan News Network -- The environmental impact of Alberta oilsands projects on northern Saskatchewan is causing significant concern, says the mayor of a northwestern community.

Last week, the Environmental Defence Fund released a report characterizing Alberta oilsands as "the most destructive project on earth" and a major producer of acid rain that's discharged into Saskatchewan.

La Loche Mayor Georgina Jolibois said it's an issue that's been on the radar in the four years she has been mayor and it's a growing concern as Alberta projects expand and new oilsands development takes place in Saskatchewan.

"I was having some discussions with elders and even the lakes, the water they take out of the lakes, it's not clear anymore ... you can tell there's some kinds of chemicals in it and it's unclean," said Jolibois, who is also the vice-chair of the NewNorth association of municipalities.

Lin Gallagher, the executive director of the environment ministry's environmental protection branch, said acid deposition levels have definitely risen because of Alberta oilsands development but its impact is not yet clear.

"So far we haven't had any alarm bells that any of our lakes have acidified, that their level of pH has dropped significantly. But what we do know is that both the soil and the water in the north is at potential risk because of how those ecosystems work," she said in a telephone interview.

"Part of the work we're trying to do is 'what is our threshold, what is the critical load? What kind of buffering capacity because these kinds of systems don't naturally have a lot of buffering capacity for acid deposition."

The Environmental Defence Fund report says studies have shown that 70 per cent of the sulphur entering Alberta's airshed ends up in Saskatchewan.

"Acid rain affects lakes, rivers, soils, forests, buildings and human health. In rivers and lakes, acid deposition exacerbates the conversion of mercury to the more dangerous form of methyl-mercury that can be taken up by fish," reads the report.

Gallagher said it's too soon to say whether the 70 per cent figure is accurate.

But the province has stepped up air and water monitoring over the last year, including a network of 10 monitoring stations in northwest Saskatchewan, the province's mobile air monitoring station and water sampling from 140 northern lakes last summer.

There is a memorandum of understanding between Alberta and Saskatchewan on acid deposition management.

A meeting is planned with Alberta officials next month to compare data compiled from the two jurisdictions, which will significantly help the province gauge the long-term impact.

"We are concerned about what volume of transboundary emissions are coming into Saskatchewan," said Gallagher.

Jolibois said northerners would like to see government support for independent environmental monitoring and tougher enforcement of regulations on resource companies.