Proceedings 2018/012

Proceedings of the National Peer Review on the Status Report on the Knowledge of the Fate and Behaviour of Diluted Bitumen in the Aquatic Ecosystems; April 19 and 20, 2017

Chairperson: Gilles Olivier
Editor: Shannon Stuyt

Summary

These proceedings summarize the relevant presentations and discussions of the national science advisory meeting held on April 19-20, 2017 at the Central BizLounge in Ottawa, ON. The title of the meeting was “Status Report on the Knowledge of the Fate and Behaviour of Diluted Bitumen in the Aquatic Ecosystems”. The overarching objective of this Science Response Process was to summarize information that has been obtained to date about the fate, behaviour, biological effects, and mitigation techniques for diluted bitumen in order to inform future research work; support current and future emergency response planning/preparedness and operations; as well as to inform the public about recent findings.

The conclusions and advice resulting from this meeting will be provided in the form of a Science Response that will be made publicly available on the CSAS website. Meeting participants included experts from various sectors and regions of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), as well as external participants from government agencies from outside Canada, industry and response organizations. Presentations formed the basis for the discussions.

Effective spill response depends on a good scientific understanding of the fate and behaviour of a specific product into the environment (e.g., changes in physical properties and chemical composition that influences its environmental persistence and potential biological effects). As part of the Government of Canada’s strategy to implement a world class prevention, preparedness and response regime, investments into DFO, ECCC, and NRCan have been made to conduct research on diluted bitumen fate, behaviour and biological effects when spilled into aquatic environments under climatic conditions relevant to a Canadian context.

These research investments are ongoing over a period of years; however, in advance of the publication of final findings, it is important that the aforementioned government agencies share and exchange new information; validate their work against industry-led initiatives; and work to make interim knowledge available in support of a robust and leading-edge emergency response regime.

Complete document (PDF, 262 KB)

Accessibility Notice

This document is available in PDF format. If the document is not accessible to you, please contact the Secretariat to obtain another appropriate format, such as regular print, large print, Braille or audio version.