Renner Responds to Water Monitoring Plan

Renner Responds to Water Monitoring Plan :: My News :: Fort McMurray's News Portal

Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner issued the following statement in response to the release on March 24 of a water monitoring plan for the oil sands region, led by Environment Canada.

“The plan presented by the federal government is the result of a lot of work within a short timeframe, with input from Alberta Environment. This is a technical monitoring plan about when and where to monitor surface water quality.

Although this work is a good starting point, physical monitoring of water is only one piece of the overall system needed. We need to build on this plan to develop a system that is robust, verifiable, transparent and governed appropriately. Most importantly, it must be credible, which is exactly what Alberta’s independent Provincial Monitoring Panel is working on.

The provincial panel will incorporate this work led by the federal government into its own review, as well as the work previously submitted by the province’s data review committee and report back to me with initial recommendations in June.

I want to assure Albertans that we all have the same goal in mind - a world-class monitoring system that encompasses air, land, water and biodiversity for the entire province. By drawing on expertise from across Canada - including our federal counterparts - we are certain we have the best information to build the best system.”

Minister Peter Ken/Water Monitoring

Minister Peter Kent | Member of Parliament Thornhill - Environment Canada Responds to Oil Sands Recommendations with Water Monitoring Plan
Speaking Notes
The Honourable Peter Kent
Minister of the Environment
Environment Canada Responds to Oil Sands Recommendations with Water Monitoring Plan
Ottawa, Ontario
March 24, 2011


Good afternoon. I'm pleased to be here today and to update you on Environment Canada's latest work in the oil sands.

Let me begin with some background.

Last December, the Government of Canada responded to the report produced by the Federal Oil Sands Advisory Panel report. The Panel had been struck in September to review the environmental monitoring systems of the Athabasca River Basin in response to credible scientific concerns related to possible impacts on water as a result of oil sands development.

In its report, the panel called for the development of a scientifically-credible water monitoring system that will provide assurance to Canadians about the environmental performance of the oil sands. The Panel noted Environment Canada as trusted science organization well equipped to lead in the design, implementation and scientific oversight of such a monitoring system.

The Department was certainly pleased at the recognition of its scientific capacity, but we also needed some time to develop a plan that incorporated the panel's guidance on improving monitoring in the oil sands.