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The news article, “Study shows Alberta oilsands releasing heavy metals at levels toxic to fish”, written by Bob Weber from The Canadian Press, voices findings from a journal article titled “Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries” written by David Schindler, Erin Kelly (et al) and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The main idea that the two articles present is that oil sands industry is increasing the amount of toxins that are being released into waterways, in this case specifically the Athabasca River, through air and water pathways.
This photograph shows the Athabasca River and Alberta’s oil sands developments.
Photographer: Eamon Mac Mahon
The secondary source was a good representative of the primary article. It concentrated on the main findings in the journal; however, in order to keep the reader’s attention the news article did not go into calculations and exact levels of toxins. For example, the news article states, “…heavy metals including lead and mercury which are being released from oil sands facilities into the air and water of northern Alberta are already above levels considered hazardous to fish.” (Weber 2010) The primary source makes a much stronger statement about the toxins levels hurting the fish. Schindler states when the fish are most at risk, as well as what levels of toxins are harmful to the fish. He gives examples of which elements he and his team measured higher and possibly harmful to the aquatic life than what the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) WaterQualityGuidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life says. “Ag was 13-fold greater than CCME guidelines at one AR site in February.” (Schindler 2010) However, Schindler does not state that the toxin levels are poisonous to fish all year long, as the news article suggests, “For example, under these conditions, the CCME guideline of 2–4 μg Cu/L would be acutely lethal to minnow embryos (33), creating an annual risk of recruitment failure for 19 fish species that spawn in the AR and its tributaries in spring or early summer”.
Unlike the primary source, the secondary source brings in opinions of other environmental workers of Alberta Environment to allow the reader to make up his/her mind if the oil sands are in fact increasing the toxin levels. The representatives of Alberta Environment claim that oil sand industries cannot be put to blame since "It's very difficult in many cases to attribute water-quality trends to one particular factor," said Kim Westcott of Alberta Environment. However, Schindler has the experimental proof to back up his conclusions, “Downstream of the oil sands development, and extending as far as the AD, concentrations of many PPE remained significantly greater than upstream … concentrations of eight PPE were as much as 2-fold greater than upstream of oil sands development”.
In the primary source, Schindler states that the Regional Aquatic Monitoring Program (RAMP) should not be trusted. Contrary to Schindlers’ experiments and tests that he has done for the levels of contaminants, the results of RAMP has led government and related agencies to believe that toxin levels are not high enough to be harmful to people, aquatic life, wildlife or the environment. The news article also includes quotes from RAMP representatives as well as other statements made by credible representatives that have also been involved with the problems of oil sand industries and their toxins. The statements made help influence the reader to believe that RAMP is not doing a good job at monitoring the levels of toxins in the Alberta water systems. Therefore, I believe that both sources did an equally good job at making this a strong argument.
Limitations in the primary source can include problems such that the contaminants being measured are solely from oil sands industries. However, this is addressed in the journal,
Occasionally, concentrations of PPE [priority pollutants] greater than BG [back ground] were observed at sites distant from oil sands development, such as the northernmost AR [Athabasca River], AD [Athabasca Delta], or LA [Lake Athabasca] sites. Based on distance, these greater concentrations probably were from local sources unrelated to oil sands mining and processing (Schindler 2010, 16179).
He also states “If the source were natural erosion of oil sands, concentrations at all sites would have been greater in summer than winter.” Schindler and his team were able to differentiate between airborne toxins and water toxins during the winter months. “…concentrations under ice reflect inputs from erosion or effluent discharge, not atmospheric sources.” (Schindler)
The secondary source includes discussion of the same limitations as the primary source; however, it is brought up by a representative from Alberta Environment. Information of how Schindler and his team took this problem into account and how they differentiated natural causes and oil sands causes is stated in the paragraph above.
Both sources established that oil sands industries increase the amount of pollutants in the water. To help reduce the amount of toxins in water ways, Alberta should have a strict monitoring system of contaminants in the waterways and surrounding environment. If Alberta continues to ignore the problems of toxins in their water ways, not only will they will see a substantial decrease in the aquatic wildlife and animals surrounding them, but they will be faced with more illnesses in the human race.
In conclusion, the secondary source is better to inform the general public as it is shorter and easier grasp the concept of what is happening. The primary source however, provides more details on the situation, allowing an audience of scientific background to read what Schindler observed and based his conclusions on. Overall, both sources provide interesting and informative information about the harming effects of Alberta’s’ oil sands developments.
References
Kelly E. and Schindler D. “Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries”. PNAS. Preecdings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. Pg. 16178-16183. 2 July 2010. 20 Sept. 2010.
Mac Mahon E. 30 Aug. 2010.
Weber, B. “Study shows Alberta oilsands releasing heavy metals at levels toxic to fish”. The Canadian Press. CB Online. 30 Aug. 2010. 20 Sept. 2010.< http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/ headline_news/article.jsp?content=b4353097&page=1>.
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