Program ID: Innovation Anthology #454
Program Date: 02/07/2012
Program Category: Energy, Environment, Forests, Natural Resources, Oil Sands, Water, Wildlife
CONRAD 2012.1: Rob Vassov Outlines Research Progress
Once oil sands mining is done, attention turns to reclaiming the landscape to a functioning boreal ecosystem.
In January researchers and industry reclamation experts gathered to share their latest understanding of how best to approach this enormous job.
Rob Vassov is a vegetation researcher with Syncrude and one of the organizers of this year’s CONRAD Symposium. CONRAD is the Canadian Oil Sands Network of Research and Development.
ROB VASSOV: Wetlands over the last couple of years have been a very large topic and we’re starting to see results that are pointing in the directions that operators need to go down in order to reclaim wetlands successfully. So that information is starting to come out. It’s a very complicated process and it takes years and years of research. But we’re starting to get the light shed on the water quality, on the types of plants that we need to focus on, on the size of the land forms. And we’re just getting a little bit better each year. But like I say, it’s a long process. It’s going to take a lot of time.
Rob Vassov says one of the biggest reclamation challenges for industry is understanding the connectivity between uplands and wetlands.
Thanks today to SYNCRUDE
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
