1 an information service for alberta’s environment ... · aep releases draft ... this was made...
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An Information Service for Alberta’s Environment Industry The Week Ending December 11th, 2015
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Inside this Issue:
AEP Releases Draft Soil Remediation Guidelines for Boron for Comment
AEP Released Updated to the Coal and Oil Sands Exploration Reclamation Requirements
Royalty Review Results Delayed
No Plans to Make Major Changes to Energy Regulator
and much more ….
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The ESAA Weekly News is published
weekly by:
Environmental Services Association of Alberta
102, 2528 Ellwood Drive SW
Edmonton, AB T6X 0A9 (P) 780.429.6363 (F) 780.429.4249
[email protected] UTTTH T HTTTUwww.esaa.orgUTTH T
Comments & submissions are welcome!
Please submit your announcement via e-mail to:
[email protected] UTTTH T
...environmental integrity through
innovative business solutions
ESAA MEMBERSHIP FEES IN THE MAIL Membership renewal notices have been e-mailed and membership fees are not increasing for the sixth consecutive year. Payment of membership fees is due by no later than January 31st. For each payment received by December 18th, ESAA will donate $10 to the Edmonton and Calgary food banks (split).
ESAA GOVERNMENT RELATIONS UPDATE Lisa Kinasewich, Manager, Industry and Government Relations As Albertans, we’ve experienced many government changes both on a provincial and federal level in 2015. Provincially, we saw the NDP sweep across the province winning 41% of the popular vote. The NDP brought new promises for the environmental sector and appointed Shannon Phillips as the new Minister of Environment and Parks. ESAA has yet to meet with Shannon Phillips but a meeting is scheduled for early in the New Year. Look for a summary of the meeting in the ESAA Newsletter in 2016. Federally, we saw the election of the Liberal Party under the newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Upon his election, he appointed Catherine McKenna as the Minister of Environment and Climate Change. The Liberals made several promises in their election platform including revamping the environmental assessment process and working to put a price on carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. ESAA has met with numerous employees from Alberta Environment and Parks, Alberta Energy Regulators, Alberta Transportation and Department of Oceans and Fisheries, to ensure we are staying abreast on all the changes occurring as a result of our change in government. In particular, ESAA met with the Deputy Minister of Environment and Parks to discuss the priorities for the provincial government going forward. Some of these priorities include:
Climate Change
Monitoring and Enforcement
Environmental Performance
Compliance
Parks
Climate Change
Regional Planning
Tailings Management Framework The main priority identified from the meeting is how Canada will deal with climate change. This was made evident with the introduction of Alberta’s Climate Leadership Plan on November 22, 2015. The plan places emphasis on three main points:
1. Phasing out coal by 2030 to encourage the generation of clean, renewable
electricity in its place.
2. Phasing in a $30 per ton economy-wide carbon price. This will be implemented in two steps: a $20 economy-wide
price in January 2017 and then a $30 price in January 2018. All capital from the new carbon price will be remaining
in the province to be directed to research of clean technology.
3. An oil sands emission limit of 100 megatons plus a provision for new upgrading and co-generationnnnn. The hope
is the limit will encourage growth of our economy by applying technology to reduce our carbon output.
Uncertain times lie ahead for Alberta’s environment industry as oil prices continue to slide below $40 a barrel. If you have any government related issues you would like to discuss, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]
ESAA REGULATORY FORUMS - 50% OF SPOTS SOLD
February 11, 2016
Marriott River Cree, Edmonton
March 16, 2016 Safari Lodge, Calgary Zoo, Calgary
The Environmental Services Association of Alberta (ESAA) will be hosting one day forums in Edmonton and Calgary focused on the changing regulatory landscape in Alberta. Presentations from Alberta Environment and Parks, Alberta Energy Regulator, Alberta Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Agency, Alberta Transportation, Environmental Appeals Board and the Public Lands Appeal Board. Full details, including the draft agenda, registration and sponsorship information, can be found online at:
Edmonton - http://www.esaa.org/events/#id=168&wid=401&cid=153
Calgary - http://www.esaa.org/events/#id=167&wid=401&cid=153 Registration Fee: $149 Members and $179Non-Members (registration fees include: continental breakfast, hot lunch, coffee breaks, free parking.) Space is limited to 200 attendees per location. Registration sold out for both cities in 2014.
WaterTech 2016 - Call for Abstracts
April 6-8, 2016
Fairmont Banff Springs, Banff
WaterTech returns to the Fairmont Banff Spring and features a closing keynote by Rick Mercer. The 9th Annual WaterTech Symposium will be held April 6-8, 2016 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Call for Abstracts: Information on the Call for Abstracts is available via the WaterTech website: www.esaa.org/watertech/agenda/call-for-abstracts/ Deadline to submit abstracts in December 31, 2015. Keynote Speakers: WaterTech 2016 will feature the following keynote speakers:
Opening Keynote: Dr. Zafar Adeel, Director, United Nations University, Institute for Water, Environment and Health
Thursday Lunch Keynote: Mac Stone, Everglades Photographer
Friday Lunch Keynote: Rick Mercer, Host of The Mercer Report on CBC Sponsorship and Exhibitor Information: Sponsorship and exhibitor information is now available via the WaterTech website: Sponsors - www.esaa.org/watertech/sponsors/ and Exhibitors - www.esaa.org/watertech/exhibitors/ Registration Information: Early bird registration is now open with special delegate rates available for Members and Non-Members until January 15th, 2016. Registration details available at: www.esaa.org/watertech/
RemTech 2015
October 12-14, 2016 Fairmont Banff Springs
RemTech 2016 Delegate Rates Will Not Rise for the 5th Consecutive Year!
ESAA works hard to keep costs for delegates at a minimum. Even though our costs have increased dramatically over the past 6 years we are holding delegate fees for the 6th consecutive year. Early Bird Registration is now open with special delegate rates available for Members and Non-Members. 100 passes are available at a discount of 20%. Once those passes are sold another 100 passes will be available at a discount of 10%. Full details available online at: www.esaa.org/remtech/ Call for Abstracts: http://www.esaa.org/remtech/agenda/call-for-abstracts/
Sponsorship and Exhibitor Information Available in early January 2016
ALBERTA ENVIRONMENT AND PARKS RELEASES DRAFT SOIL REMEDIATION GUIDELINES FOR BORON
FOR COMMENT Draft Soil Remediation Guidelines for Boron: Environmental and Human Health are now available for comment. http://esrd.alberta.ca/lands-forests/land-industrial/inspections-and-compliance/alberta-soil-and-groundwater-remediation-guidelines.aspx Alberta Environment and Parks will accept comments on the draft guidelines until January 15, 2016. When finalized, the Soil Remediation Guidelines for Boron will replace the existing soil boron guidelines in the Alberta Tier 1 Soil and Groundwater Remediation Guidelines. A revised version of the Alberta Tier 1 Soil and Groundwater Remediation Guidelines will be released at that time and the new soil boron guidelines will come into effect. Until then, the Soil Remediation Guidelines for Boron: Environmental and Human Health remain in draft form. Comments may be sent to: Alberta Environment and Parks - [email protected]
ALBERTA ENVIRONMENT AND PARKS RELEASED UPDATE TO THE COAL AND OIL SANDS EXPLORATION
RECLAMATION REQUIREMENTS Alberta Environment and Parks has released an update to the Coal and Oil Sands Exploration Reclamation Requirements – December 2015. This directive provides the coal exploration program (CEP) and oil sands exploration (OSE), requirements for reclamation certification. It replaces the Directive SD 2010-01 Coal and Oil Sands Exploration Reclamation Requirements. The Reclamation Criteria for Wellsites and Associated Facilities for Peatlands produced in October 2015, come into effect on April 15, 2016. Prior to this date, Peatland sites assessed as per the Reclamation Criteria for Wellsites and Associated Facilities for Forested Sites are still acceptable. The Coal and Oil Sands Exploration Reclamation Requirements is available at: http://aep.alberta.ca/lands-forests/land-industrial/programs-and-services/reclamation-and-remediation/upstream-oil-and-gas-reclamation-and-remediation-program/wellsite-reclamation-certificate-application-process.aspx For questions, please contact: Alberta Environment and Parks - [email protected]
ALBERTA’S ROYALTY REVIEW RESULTS DELAYED UNTIL NEW YEAR (Source: Calgary Herald) Premier Rachel Notley offered reassurances to the oilpatch Thursday even as she confirmed that her government’s review of Alberta’s energy royalty regime won’t be released before the end of the year as originally planned.
Notley said the NDP government hopes, instead, to bring forward its plan for royalties in early January.
“The delay is relatively small because we know that people are looking for the outcome sooner rather than later,” she said in a news conference at the provincial legislature.
“But we want to be sure that we get it right, that we don’t kick something out the door that’s not ready.”
A review of Alberta’s royalty regime for oil, natural gas and oilsands was a key campaign plank for the NDP during the spring provincial election.
But the review, chaired by ATB Financial president Dave Mowat, has raised concerns in the oilpatch and criticism from opposition parties because it comes as the province and energy industry struggle with tanking oil prices.
Notley’s government has also just released a climate change strategy that calls for a $3-billion economy-wide carbon tax starting in 2017, as well as a cap on future greenhouse gas emissions from the oilsands.
In light of the current uncertainty, the NDP has already promised that any royalty changes spurred by the review panel won’t come into effect until January 2017 to help provide stability to the industry.
“One thing I can say now … the plan as it moves forward will be highly sensitive to the current economic situation we are facing (and) to the moves that will and have been made on the climate change front,” Notley said Thursday.
Chelsie Klassen, spokeswoman for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said the energy industry umbrella group welcomed the premier’s comments and had no issue with a short delay in releasing the royalty plan.
“We have been talking a lot about predictability in the marketplace and how that’s important, but I think that it’s much more important to get it right,” she said. “So if they’re taking the time to be thoughtful about it, we’re pleased with that as well.”
Notley also addressed concerns about the Liberal government demanding further climate action from the province to reach ambitious emissions reduction goals planned by Ottawa.
“I’ve certainly received fairly strong indications from the federal government that they perceive that the step we have taken is a major one. They see it as a good thing, one that they will support and not one they will be planning to ask us to amend,” said the premier.
ALBERTA GOVERNMENT: NO PLANS TO MAKE MAJOR CHANGES TO ENERGY REGULATOR (Source: Metro News) EDMONTON - The Alberta government says the province's energy regulator is performing well and there are no plans to make major changes to the agency.
In the past, Premier Rachel Notley has voiced concerns that the Alberta Energy Regulator has responsibility for both promoting energy development and protecting the environment.
Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd said Notley's comments have been misconstrued.
“She (Notley) and I have been clear since the beginning that we are not breaking up the AER,” the minister said in an interview Thursday.
“It is working well. Industry likes it.”
Last month the NDP announced a review of 300 government agencies and boards, including the AER, to ensure they are performing to the maximum benefits of Albertans.
A report on the first phase of this review is expected by March.
A few weeks later McCuaig-Boyd sent a letter to AER chairman Gerry Protti to reassure the agency that the review would not include its regulatory mandate.
“While the governance structure will be examined under the review, I have confirmed with Premier Notley that the AER's regulatory mandate does not need to be reviewed,” reads the letter.
Jim Ellis, president and CEO of the AER, said the agency is heartened by the decision.
“The government of Alberta recently advised us that they will not be proceeding with a review of our mandate,” Ellis said Thursday in an email.
“This is an important signal to the AER and a validation of the important work we do … ensuring the efficient, safe, orderly and environmentally responsible development of Alberta's energy resources.”
In 2013, the AER took over responsibility for reviewing the effects of oil, natural gas, oilsands and coal projects from Alberta's Environment Department.
That change stemmed from legislation that was passed to make it easier for the energy industry to navigate the regulatory system.
McCuaig-Boyd said the government is very confident in the AER, but wouldn't ruling out making some changes to it in the future.
“There are always areas where we can improve and we are working on those, but as a single regulator.”
She declined to give any specifics.
Last month the government announced Alberta's climate change strategy.
The plan includes a carbon tax, limits on oilsands emissions and phasing out coal-generated electricity.
McCuaig-Boyd said the government will be working with the regulator to achieve its targets.
“I have talked with Mr. Ellis on that,” she said. “He said there is lots of work to do but we are going to get through it and we are quite confident that we can make the whole industry better.”
METHANE PLAN WILL TAKE WORK, ENERGY REGULATOR SAYS (Source: Edmonton Journal) Developing a plan to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry will be a major task for the Alberta Energy Regulator, president and CEO Jim Ellis said Friday.
As part of its new climate-change goals, the Alberta government wants to reduce energy-sector methane emissions by 45 per cent by 2025. The energy regulator has been assigned a lead role in developing standards that are to come into effect by 2020.
The work, to be done in concert with the energy and environment ministries, will include applying new emission design standards for new facilities, and taking action on venting and fugitive emissions from existing facilities and from pneumatic equipment powered by natural gas.
“That’s going to be a significant amount of work because of the sheer numbers of pieces of equipment and operations that are operating in the field,” Ellis said. “There’s a whole bunch of things within this file that we regulate that we’re going to have to take a look at.
“It’s early days, but it wouldn’t surprise me that we at the AER are going to have to reach out and bring in some technical expertise. I don’t know numbers, I don’t know what that looks like right now. We’re waiting to hear some information from government on where we’re going with that.“
The oil and gas industry is responsible for 70 per cent of all Alberta’s largest source of methane emissions. Methane makes up 25 per cent of all emissions from the upstream oil and gas sector. It is roughly 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a heat-trapping gas.
The regulator will also play a role in the 100-megatonne limit on overall oilsands emissions that is part of the government’s climate change plan. “That all runs through the authorizations for oilsands projects, and renewals of current ones that are in place right now,” Ellis said. “We’ll wait to see where the government is going to go on this, to give us direction.”
Established in 2013, AER is the single regulator of energy development in Alberta. It has about 1,200 employees who regulate 160,000 active wells, more than 20,000 oil and gas batteries, nearly 600 gas plants and more than 415,000 kilometres of pipelines.
The regulator dealt with several high-profile compliance issues in 2015, including a failed pipeline at Nexen Energy’s Long Lake operations that leaked five million litres of bitumen emulsion. The AER also shut in 16 Murphy Oil Co. wells near Peace River after finding them in non-compliance.
Ellis said he is pleased the government has decided against reviewing the regulator’s mandate. Premier Rachel Notley had voiced concerns that the AER has responsibility for both promoting energy development and protecting the environment, but a mandate review is now off the table.
“This will certainly make our lives easier,” Ellis said. “We’re working in a very high-stress environment right now with low commodity prices and lots of friction in the system. This added friction would have been a challenge to deal with, so from my perspective it was welcome news.”
The downturn this year hasn’t reduced the volume of work for the regulator and its staff, Ellis said.
HELP INVEST IN POSITIVE ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS FOR
ALBERTANS! For 24 years Alberta Ecotrust has played a unique role on the environmental landscape. As an important intermediary organization, Alberta Ecotrust builds trust and focuses on solutions. With a vast network and deep understanding of the environmental issues, players and policies in Alberta, Alberta Ecotrust brings people from industry and environmental groups together to address Alberta’s emerging environmental challenges. With support from concerned citizens, small businesses, foundations and their corporate and environmental partners, they have invested in close to 600 environmental projects in Alberta over the last 24 years. Their programs build bridges, support collaborative leadership and invest in high impact organizations and environmental initiatives that benefit communities across the province. Alberta Ecotrust investments engage communities in projects that protect our water resources, conserve critical habitat and wildlife, and work to build a more sustainable future. All investments contribute to collective accomplishments we can all be proud of including the protection of threatened species like the Grizzly bear, the Castle Wilderness and rivers and lakes across the province. Please visit our website at www.albertaecotrust.com or call us at 403-209-2245 to learn more.
Be part of the solution! Join their campaign to raise $10,000 before December 31 and help turn brilliant ideas into positive community projects that protect our environment.
For more details visit: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/alberta-ecotrust-foundation/albertaecotrust/
Suncor benefits from Ecotrust’s unique model of collaboration which allows companies and community organizations to work shoulder to shoulder, and to learn from each other. When we work together in this way there is no hierarchy – only mutual respect, lots of intellectual capital and a passion to shape a better world. Arlene Strom, Vice President, Sustainability and Communications, Suncor Energy “Land Stewardship Centre and Alberta Ecotrust have built our successful, long-standing relationship on a solid foundation of common priorities, mutual respect and a collective desire to be encouragers and enablers of others. Together we can, and do, go further than we ever could alone.” Brian E. Ilnicki Executive Director, Land Stewardship Centre
IMPROVING B.C.’S WILDLIFE HABITAT MANAGEMENT Forests, Lands and Natural Resources Operations Minister Steve Thomson has committed to reviewing and acting on the advice and majority of recommendations contained in the report, Getting the Balance Right: Improving Wildlife Habitat Management in British Columbia.
In the aftermath of the mountain pine beetle epidemic, Thomson asked Parliamentary Secretary Mike Morris to examine the impact of the epidemic and the associated increase in timber harvesting on wildlife habitat in the province’s Interior. Morris met with 24 organizations over a six-month period, and provided advice and 18 recommendations in five broad areas, as follows:
Implement a new wildlife management program;
Consolidate authorization planning in resource development;
Develop a landscape-level planning model (planning across areas that are ecologically similar in a defined geographic area);
Improve and expand results-based management; and
Increase the involvement of wildlife practitioners.
The majority of the recommendations align with government actions already underway. For example, the creation of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations was the first step towards a more integrated approach to managing natural resource development. First Nations have also requested increased focus on the monitoring and stewardship of wildlife resources that support their treaty and Aboriginal rights.
The ongoing development of the cumulative effects assessment framework is ensuring that impacts of resource development over a given geographic area – instead of a sector-by-sector basis – are managed in an environmentally sustainable way.
The new Forest Enhancement Program under development will also contain a component to restore wildlife habitat and Morris’ advice will help shape that program component.
The ministry’s new integrated silviculture strategies are “landscape-level” plans that manage forest harvesting, reforestation, wildlife habitat and ecosystem needs. Acting on recommendations from other reports, the ministry is improving its guidance and training packages to ensure results and strategies required in forest licensees’ forest stewardship plans are more easily verified. The ministry is also enhancing its Forest and Range Evaluation Program and developing and implementing wildlife monitoring protocols.
The ministry is also exploring options for the increased use of citizen science, including the launch of a smart phone app to help inventory moose populations.
Quick Facts:
There are 1,140 native species of vertebrates in B.C., including 488 kinds of birds, 480 species of fish, 136 mammals, 20 kinds of amphibians and 16 different reptile species. Three-quarters of Canada's mammal species are found in British Columbia, and 24 of those species are exclusive to our province.
Approximately 37% of the province is under some kind of conservation designation.
Over $1 million each year is spent on inventorying wildlife populations.
Learn More: A copy of Getting the Balance Right is available online at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/fw/wildlife/
RESEARCHERS TURNING TOXIC PONDS INTO HEALTHY WETLANDS
(Source: Canada Lab News) Windsor, ON – A method developed by researchers at the University of Windsor promises to hasten the turning of toxic tailings ponds left by petroleum mining into sustainable wetlands. A team led by biology professors Chris Weisener and Jan Ciborowski of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research spent the summer in Alberta successfully testing their method. The patented process involves exposing to gamma radiation the sediment of tailings ponds—storage basins of the leftover toxic mix of residual oil, water, sand and clay that comprise the byproducts of oil refining. Irradiating the sediment breaks down the toxic compounds and creates a food source for microorganisms. “The irradiation process is creating a bio-available carbon source for bacteria called degraders, and this gives the bacteria a boost,” said Dr. Weisener. “In other words, it creates an abundance of readily available food, like taking lobster meat out of a shell and presenting that meat, instead of having to go to all the fuss of shelling it.” Weisener says irradiation reduces toxicity right off the bat, and though the researchers are still playing with how quickly it works, they have found it speeds up the remediation process by at least 50 percent. Danielle VanMensel, a master’s student in Weisener’s lab, has been investigating the effects of irradiation on the sediment’s microbiological community. “The irradiation effectively sterilizes the material, then we reintroduce the original microbial community, which starts breaking down the toxins,” she said. “I study how the community shifts and changes in both the samples we left alone, as well as the irradiated samples, and we have found that these microbes may play a huge role in bringing the sediment back to a remediated state.” Doctoral candidate Thomas Reid and master’s student Chantal Dings-Avery are looking into the irradiated material under natural conditions like rainwater, sunlight, bugs and plants. “This is a new and faster approach that is a big plus because it costs industry millions of do llars to reclaim these sites,” said Reid. “This is a safe method that uses irradiation exposure, the kind used in the food or medical industry.” The team got a unique opportunity to fly with Environment Canada into undisturbed sites near Fort McMurray. Reid says these reference sites have not been touched by human production and can give an understanding of the kind of sustainable wetlands they are striving to recreate. He says they are studying how the microbes behave at the most basic level, to see how or if that activity differs between bacteria living in the undisturbed sites compared to those in the mined oil sands sites: “Understanding what microbes are actually doing in these undisturbed sites is something that’s never been done before, it is a great reference point,” he said. The team is also testing that irradiation is not creating any additional toxic byproducts. The research to date has not uncovered any negative ramifications. Weisener’s research partner Dr. Ciborowski is studying how the irradiated material affects plants and insects. “This method could potentially affect the whole ecosystem because bacteria are the front line,” says Weisener. “Bacteria are the primary producers, so they will influence the chemical environment, which allows other forms of life to establish, and this was our goal.”
CANADA PLEDGES $35 MILLION TO COMBAT SHORT-LIVED CLIMATE POLLUTANTS At the High Level Assembly for the Climate and Clean Air Coalition, the Government of Canada announced its contribution of Can$35 million to reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs), including Can$10 million to the Coalition’s Trust Fund.
SLCPs are potent global warmers with a relatively short lifespan in the atmosphere compared to longer-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs), and they play an important role in climate change. Since atmospheric levels of short-
lived substances respond relatively quickly to changes in emissions, actions to reduce SLCPs can reduce the rate of near-term global warming.
The Government of Canada recognizes the importance of reducing SLCPs as part of a comprehensive strategy to address climate change and as a practical approach to making improvements in the environment and human health. Reducing SLCPs can slow warming, and can also help address indoor and outdoor air pollution, which are a key cause of premature death in communities around the world.
Of this funding, $25 million will help to reduce SLCPs through mitigation actions with key partner countries, including through projects that aim to reduce black carbon emissions to benefit the Arctic.
The remaining $10 million will be directed to the Coalition’s Trust Fund. Canada is a Coalition founder and one of the largest contributors to the Coalition’s Trust Fund. The fund supports the development and implementation of the organization’s programs and initiatives in developing countries. This additional $10 million in funding will enable the Coalition to continue its critical work on SLCPs.
Today’s announcement is part of Canada’s pledge of Can$2.65 billion over the next five years to support the transition to low-carbon economies that are both greener and more climate resilient.
Quick Facts
SLCPs include substances such as black carbon, methane and some hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). These substances have a relatively short lifespan in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide (CO2) and other longer-lived GHGs.
Reducing SLCPs offers significant climate and public health benefits. SLCPs are climate warming, and they are known to cause respiratory and other negative health effects.
There are currently more than 109 partners in the Coalition, including 49 states, 16 intergovernmental and 44 non-governmental organizations.
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES LAKE FALLS OFF CLIFF IN SIGN OF CHANGING CLIMATE (Source: Globe and Mail) In a dramatic example of how climate change is altering the Arctic landscape, a small northern lake has fallen off a cliff after bursting through the melting earthen rampart that restrained it.
A video released Wednesday by the government of the Northwest Territories shows how the lake, undermined by melting permafrost, collapsed into a valley below and created a large temporary waterfall and an oozing tongue of mud and debris.
“It drained quickly,” said Steve Kokelj of the N.W.T. Geological Survey.
The lake, which has no name and sits in the territory’s northern corner near the community of Fort McPherson, is a victim of the region’s geology and changing climate.
Permafrost in this part of the N.W.T. contains a high percentage of ice in headwalls, which can be up to 30 metres thick. That ice has been there since the last ice age.
Trouble starts when the headwall tops are exposed by wind or rain. The ice melts, causing the soil and rock on top to collapse. That exposes more ice, which then melts and extends the collapse, and the cycle keeps repeating.
On July 15, the narrow rib of land that had kept the 1.5-hectare lake from plummeting into the valley below gave way.
Within two hours, 30,000 cubic metres of water – the equivalent of a dozen Olympic-sized swimming pools – gushed over the edge in a waterfall up to five storeys high.
Mud and debris filled more than a kilometre of the valley below and flowed for two days at the rate of 50 metres an hour.
“It was one of those things that you can get out of the way of but you can’t stop,” said Kokelj.
Such slumps have been getting bigger as rainfall increases and temperatures warm. The summers of 2010 and 2012 were the wettest on record and average temperatures have increased several degrees since the 1970s.
There are slumps in the N.W.T. more than a kilometre long and as large as 40 hectares that have washed loose millions of cubic metres of rubble. Kokelj estimates that the amount of land affected has more than doubled since the late 1980s.
The slump that sent the lake plummeting valleyward had been at work for most of a decade.
Not all the water drained. Kokelj said unfrozen sediments underneath the lake blocked further erosion and stabilized the banks. The territorial government is advising people to stay away from the area, however, because the rest of the lake might still collapse.
The melting will continue around the lake, which will ultimately leave it isolated and elevated on a small plateau, Kokelji said.
Similar landforms, with hilltop lake sediments, are found in Wisconsin. The difference is those features formed 13,000 years ago.
“There’s an analogue to what we’re seeing today,” said Kokelj.
HEADWATERS: REDUCED FEDERAL OVERSIGHT LEAVES A CRITICAL RESOURCE EXPOSED (Source: Globe and Mail) Canadians, unlike billions of people around the world, see clean water as their birthright. Images of pristine water are rooted deep in the Canadian psyche, from Tom Thomson’s Cold Spring in Algonquin Park, to photos of Pierre Elliott Trudeau canoeing on fresh northern lakes.
As a commodity, water touches every facet of the Canadian economy. It powers industry and washes away industrial, urban and agricultural waste. Without it, turbines don’t spin, croplands become dust bowls, and rainforests burn.
This story is part of a Globe and Mail series on the future of our most critical resource. Visit the Headwaters series page here.
But water resources can’t be protected by our good intentions alone – that takes government policy.
If it is tainted, water can sicken entire communities – as happened in Walkerton, Ont., in 2000, when seven people died and more than 2,000 became ill from E. coli. Across Canada, in a typical month, there are more than a thousand active community drinking-water advisories.
In recent years the federal government has retreated – quietly, and to an unprecedented extent – from the regulation of water. Lawyers, scientists and past federal employees interviewed by The Globe and Mail say that a series of changes made under Stephen Harper have reduced enforcement and weakened environmental controls, putting our water at risk. Even some industry representatives, who lobbied the government for a streamlined regulatory framework, have been surprised at the extent of the changes.
While the Liberals in Ottawa are currently focused on global climate change, an equally compelling environmental issue faces us at home. Canada’s water is under pressure from oil and gas development, logging, hydro generation, and industrial and urban pollution. Glaciers are dwindling, and aquifers are being depleted. We must manage our water, so we can keep using it. Figuring out that balance – one that ensures environmental protection while meeting society’s demands – will be one of the new government’s greatest tasks.
Neither Fisheries Minister Hunter Tootoo nor Environment Minister Catherine McKenna was available for an interview on how they plan to address these matters. Their staff responded with brief e-mails referring to their mandate letters from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the party’s campaign platform included several measures to reverse course on some of the regulatory changes, but the details of how the Liberals will proceed on water-related issues are yet to be made public.
Over the next week, The Globe and Mail will examine the many challenges to Canada’s watersheds. From the battle to preserve clean water in the Great Lakes, to the more than 100 boil-water advisories affecting First Nations communities, to large-scale projects that have sparked public outcry, policymakers face critical questions about the future of a resource we assume will always be available. We will explore these questions in depth, consider what solutions technology offers, and report on what individual water users can do to make a difference.
Layers of regulation, and a push to streamline
Standing on a footbridge where Britannia Creek flows through an old mine site, Mark Angelo takes a deep breath and catches the stench rising from the water. “That’s a wonderful smell,” he says.
Below him, scattered along the banks of the stream that tumbles under the Sea-to-Sky Highway, about 50 kilometres north of Vancouver, are the carcasses of 300 salmon. They died naturally, after spawning, but not long ago this water was so contaminated with acid runoff from the Britannia Mine that it was devoid of life. Not only were there no salmon; there were no aquatic plants or insects at all, as a caustic broth from the mine poisoned the cold, bright water.
“It was one of the most toxic sites in North America,” says Mr. Angelo, chair emeritus of the Rivers Institute at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. The stream was killed in the early 1900s, at a time when governments didn’t question resource development and had little concern about environmental damage.
Some of Canada’s oldest legislation deals with water, including the Navigable Waters Protection Act (now the Navigation Protection Act) which was passed in 1882, three years before the last spike was driven to complete the Canadian Pacific Railway.
At that time waterways were still Canada’s primary transportation routes, and the bill was designed to ensure that bridges wouldn’t impair navigation. It was soon expanded to cover dams, docks, piers and just about any other structure that stuck out into the water. In 1906 the Supreme Court of Canada reinforced the scope of the act by defining “navigable water” as any body of water that could float a canoe – broadening the legislation so that it applied to millions of lakes, rivers and streams.
But over several decades, beginning in the late 1800s, successive Liberal and Conservative governments also developed a complex regulatory framework that went beyond these economic concerns, and introduced rules to protect the environment. Inevitably, as layers of regulation built up, they became cumbersome to administer; there were also archaic remnants of the original regulations that hindered many projects.
Mr. Harper’s government cited many examples of this when it broached the need to modernize the regulatory system. Among them: a City of Moncton application to build a culvert under a highway, which took eight months to secure approval; and a Hydro Quebec transmission line that took 13 months to get approved. Then there was the case of Wabamun Lake, near Edmonton, where, over a span of three years, the government was obliged to process 80 applications from cottagers who simply wanted to put in docks.
Reforms were aimed at eliminating that kind of red tape, the Conservatives said. To an extent, that was true: Legislation routinely needs to be updated to reflect changing technologies, priorities and public needs.
But Mr. Angelo, along with many other environmental academics and researchers, thinks the government went too far. As it streamlined processes, they say, it also undermined environmental oversight – both by scaling back the scope of regulations and by reducing enforcement.
Canada’s water is regulated by multiple departments and agencies administering several key pieces of legislation. In 2012, the government amended many aspects of that regulatory framework, narrowing the scope of the rules, and revising the processes by which decisions were made. Most of the amendments were buried in sweeping omnibus legislation, which meant that they did not have a chance to be debated, bill by bill, in the House of Commons.
Collectively, the amendments softened regulations protecting water from pollution, allowed the destruction of fish habitat, restricted public participation in environmental reviews, made it easier for pipelines and bridges to cross waterways, gave industry a self-policing role in assessing environmental impact, and reduced protection for species at risk.
Here are some of the most significant changes:
FISHERIES ACT
Taken together, several changes both scaled back the government’s commitment to fishery regulation and reduced its capacity to monitor whether its regulations were being adhered to.
One major set of amendments was to regulations that prohibited the “harmful alteration or disruption, or the destruction of fish habitat” (known as the HADD section of the act). This section had been routinely used by fisheries officers to protect fish habitat from the discharge of pollutants and other harmful effects. Under the old legislation, bridge and pipeline crossings, dredging, gravel mining in rivers, and the crossing of streams by heavy equipment could all lead to HADD prosecutions.
In the new bill, the HADD section was altered to prohibit “serious harm to fish that are part of a commercial, recreational or aboriginal fishery, or to fish that support such a fishery.”
This amounted to a significant reduction of the areas protected. Fish in wilderness waters not regularly visited by people would not be protected – nor, crucially, would their habitat. Furthermore, in the new HADD section, “serious harm” was defined as the “death of fish” or the “permanent” alteration or destruction of their habitat. Temporary destruction – the kind that might result from an oil spill – became legal.
Other changes gave cabinet the authority to exempt individual projects, or complete water bodies, from the Fisheries Act entirely. This made it possible for a specific mine, for example, to legally pollute a river or lake.
As well, the budget of the department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) was cut by $80-million in 2012, and its staffing levels reduced.
CANADIAN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ACT (CEAA)
Changes to this act have given cabinet the authority to approve any project, regardless of its environmental impacts, thus politicizing such approvals while severely curtailing the number of projects screened.
An environmental assessment (EA) is the basic tool by which a government examines the impact that a proposed project might have, and determines whether it ought to be approved. Changes to the CEAA gave cabinet a greater and more direct role in decision-making, dramatically tightened the time frame for environmental reviews, reduced opportunities for public participation, and recognized provincial assessments as equivalent to federal reviews.
Under the new rules, if an assessment concludes that a specific project would cause “significant” environmental effects – which in the past would have been grounds for rejecting it – the project is now referred to cabinet to determine whether those effects are justified in the circumstance.
The amendments also stated that “only designated projects” would require environmental assessment; in the past, any project that involved federal lands or required a federal permit would have triggered an assessment. Typically, the environment minister designates projects for review under the revised legislation, also opening up the process to potential politicization.
Just before the legislation was amended, according to an analysis by the environmental law firm Willms & Shier, there were 2,970 projects on the CEAA registry for screening, including pipeline rights of way, oil- and gas-well access roads, gravel mines, and waste-treatment facilities. Once the revisions were passed, 2,900 of those projects – almost 98 per cent – were dropped.
NAVIGATION PROTECTION ACT
Changes here slashed the number of water bodies considered significant enough to be specifically protected by the federal government, and added a significant hurdle to the review of any particular project to be built on such bodies.
Previously known as the Navigable Waters Protection Act, the original purpose of this legislation was to keep waterways open to marine passage. But over the years, it evolved to include an environmental dimension, and so could trigger environmental assessments of projects.
In 2012, the word “waters” was removed from the title of the bill. It was a change of portent: The focus of the legislation now became solely the protection of navigation, and the ability to consider the environmental impact of projects was severely limited.
There are over 8,500 rivers and two million lakes across Canada. While the government was drafting its amendments, it looked at a list of 1,070 bodies of water that were considered significant enough to be specifically listed in the act – as designated waters, they would continue to be covered. By the time the legislation was passed, only 162 of them – 97 lakes, 62 rivers and the three oceans that border Canada – were included.
Now dams, bridges, pipeline crossings and other works can be built on almost any body of water in the country, without prior approval under the act and without triggering an environmental assessment. For example, only one river in the Northwest Territories – the Mackenzie – is designated. In B.C., such rivers as the Stikine and the Liard are not listed.
As well, until the 2012 amendments, projects submitted for approval under the NWPA could trigger a review based on certain environmental concerns. Under the NPA, assessments are triggered only if a project is also on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act’s truncated project list.
NATIONAL ENERGY BOARD ACT
Also in 2012, responsibility for assessing potential damage to fish and fish habitat from pipelines and power lines was transferred from the DFO to the National Energy Board (NEB).
But while the NEB got new responsibilities to assess environmental impacts, it also lost the authority to refuse what’s known as a certificate of public convenience for pipelines. Under the changes, all final decisions on whether to refuse or grant a certificate – that is, an authorization to construct and operate a pipeline – are made by cabinet.
SPECIES AT RISK ACT
Under the amended version of SARA, the NEB is no longer required to impose conditions to protect critical habitats when it issues pipeline approvals. In the past, an independent body of scientists recommended to government whether a species should be listed. When necessary, a critical habitat was defined, and a species-recovery strategy was drawn up.
What’s more, before the amendments, project permits could not exceed three years. Under the updated regulations, a permit can be issued for any length of time.
With his white beard and folksy manner, Otto Langer seems like a friendly Edmund Gwenn in Miracle on 34th Street. But before retiring in 2001, the former head of habitat assessment in B.C. and the Yukon for the DFO was known for relentlessly pursuing polluters on behalf of the government.
Standing on the banks of the Fraser River, at a site slated to become a jet-fuel facility with an unloading dock, a pipeline and an 80-million-litre tank farm, Mr. Langer outlines the project’s impact. “[It] will allow barges and Panamax tankers of highly toxic and flammable jet fuel to enter the Fraser River for the first time in history,” says Mr. Langer, as flocks of birds huddle on the water upstream from the Alaksen National Wildlife Area, where marshes are used by 1.4 million birds for wintering or migration.
“I’m just amazed they could allow anything like this,” he says of the facility, which was proposed by the Vancouver Airport Fuel Facilities Corporation and granted environmental approval by the province after Ottawa let B.C. handle the file. Mr. Langer now heads a citizens’ group that launched a failed court bid to quash the provincial certificate. “It involves federal fisheries, federal migratory birds … a federal harbour, a federal airport – but where was the federal government? They just disappeared and let the province look after it.”
Mr. Langer rejects the suggestion that a jet-fuel spill would evaporate quickly and thus not pose a serious environmental threat. “Years later it could be seeping out of the mud flats,” he says. “I was shocked when I went to
Lemon Creek [in the B.C. Interior, where a truck spilled jet fuel in 2013]. I was there 68 days after the spill … and 100 feet away from the stream, I could smell the jet fuel. It destroyed everything in that stream, from blue herons to otters to all the fish.”
Jeffrey Jones, who handled environmental prosecutions for the Department of Justice for 25 years, says that the weakening of oversight by Ottawa has occurred simultaneously on two fronts: Not only are the laws less forceful, but there has been a retreat from enforcement in general, he says, in part because of cuts to field staff.
“I’m just amazed they could allow anything like this,” says Otto Langer, who once represented the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in B.C., of a jet-fuel facility slated for the banks of the Fraser River.
In the Lemon Creek accident, a truck carrying aviation fuel for helicopters fighting forest fires took a wrong turn (the company blamed the province for failure to provide adequate signage) and tumbled into the creek. Mr. Jones, now in private practice in the small B.C. coastal community of Sointula, said he has handled over 2,000 environmental prosecutions for the Crown – and in his view, Lemon Creek would have been a “slam-dunk prosecution” under the old Fisheries Act.
The changes, he says, upended a long tradition of oversight: “We got 20, 30 years of good, solid enforcement regimes that regulated [corporate extraction] and every now and then they charged. And it worked really, really well. You throw that out and it is really worrisome. What have you got? You’ve got Lemon Creek.”
David Schindler, a professor of ecology at the University of Alberta, says the changes have clearly created “an uninhibited pathway” for industrial development. “All that they have done seems to have set the stage for expediting the approval of more oil-sands projects and pipelines. It’s just total madness.”
In 2011, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and other energy-industry groups wrote to the federal government, asking for a modernization of environmental laws that stood to affect “$120-billion of shovel-ready investments.” That’s what they got, says Calvin Sandborn, legal director of the University of Victoria Environmental Law Centre – and in some cases, “the wording for this new, narrowed legislation was taken directly from oil- and gas-industry requests.”
Among the most egregious changes, he says, were restrictions that made it difficult to participate in environmental reviews or to cross-examine witnesses at NEB hearings. In the ongoing NEB hearings into the proposed Kinder Morgan Pipeline Expansion Project (from Alberta to B.C.’s Lower Mainland) new federal restrictions resulted in more than 1,200 individuals or groups being denied a chance to speak at public hearings. The reason: They weren’t directly affected by the proposed pipelines.
Alex Ferguson, vice-president of policy for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), rejects the idea that the legislation was drafted by and for industry. “I know there are lots of rumours flying around, that industry demanded this,” he says. “[Looking at the policy that resulted] I thought, boy, it wasn’t a very smart thing to demand.”
Mr. Ferguson says the changes came abruptly and caused a lot of confusion both in industry and government. “I felt bad for the poor bureaucrats. They were trying to sort out ‘What does this mean? How do we make this work?’” he says.
Although Mr. Ferguson says industry didn’t dictate the changes, everyone has been learning to work with them, and he hopes the new government won’t rush to make revisions without first making a careful assessment. His suggestion: “First find if there has there been anything negative that’s happened as a result of those change … Our view would be ‘Have a look at it. What’s wrong? What’s missing? What can be enhanced?’ And then move from there, as opposed to turning the clock back.”
Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada, also rejects the idea that legislative changes were made to please his industry. “That’s actually nonsense,” he says. “These reforms, we’ve come to the conclusion, had … probably a lot more to do with pipelines than mining.” On the ground, he says, there has been “no reduction in federal oversight of mining projects.”
But he understands at least some of the concerns that have ensued. “I think … a legitimate question to ask is ‘Was too much taken out?’ It’s one thing to argue you don’t need an [environmental assessment] for a park bench, but
there are other activities, you know, a run-of-river hydro project … [or] pipelines. So I think you could make a legitimate argument that there’s too much that’s not captured and [that] the Fisheries Act oversight has been diminished.”
A Liberal promise to ‘undo the damage’
In the environmental platform the Liberals released during the federal election campaign, there’s a photo of Justin Trudeau as a child, in the bow of a canoe, with his father in the stern, steering. Hardly old enough to see over the gunwales, the boy has a solid grip on the paddle and is bracing for the tumble of white water ahead.
“I was barely walking before my father put a paddle in my hands, and started teaching my brothers and me how to read a river,” he wrote in the introduction to the platform, promising to “undo the damage done by Harper” and restore public trust in the government’s ability to protect the environment. His government has already started assembling teams to examine the regulatory changes made in 2012.
In its platform, the party promised to “replace Mr. Harper’s changes to the environmental-assessment process,” to ensure decisions are based on science; to “modernize” the NEB; to review endangered-species protection; and to open up public participation in assessment processes.
In a letter last month to the B.C. Wildlife Federation, Liberal Party of Canada President Anna Gainey reinforced that message. Said a party statement attached to that letter: “A Liberal government will launch an immediate, public review of Canada’s environmental assessment processes. Based on this review, a Liberal government will replace Mr. Harper’s changes to the environmental-assessment process. Morevoer, a Liberal government will conduct a wholesale review of changes to the Fisheries Act and elimination of the Navigable Waters Protection [Act] that will restore lost protections.”
Other promises include implementing the recommendations of the 2012 Cohen Commission, which examined the collapse of sockeye-salmon stocks in the Fraser River; reversing a $40-million cut from the ocean-monitoring programs; and “end[ing] the practice of having federal ministers interfere in projects while they are being assessed.” This month, the Liberals followed through on another promise, announcing a ban on crude-oil tankers on B.C.’s North Coast.
In mandate letters to Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna and Fisheries Minister Hunter Tootoo, Mr. Trudeau reiterated the promises made during the campaign. His government is now in power and entering fast water. As the Prime Minister knows from his days of canoeing rapids, it is time now for decisions.
Mark Hume is a national correspondent for The Globe and Mail, based in Vancouver, where he writes a weekly column focusing on the environment, and is the author of three natural-history books about rivers. Illustrations by Trish McAlaster/The Globe and Mail
ESAA Member News
TRACE ASSOCIATES ANNOUNCES MARKET SECTOR LEAD, SASKATCHEWAN
Calgary, Alberta – Darrell Haight, President and CEO of Trace Associates Inc. (Trace) is pleased to welcome Mr. Jeremy Lang to the position of Market Sector Lead, Saskatchewan. Jeremy will join Trace’s Saskatoon office and help grow Trace’s environmental services across all sectors.
Jeremy Lang Jeremy brings more than 15 years of experience in client management in the environmental consulting sector in Western Canada. Throughout his career, he has specialized in remediation for the oil and gas, industrial, and commercial industries. In addition, Jeremy has managed in-situ remediation projects by incorporating new technologies and practices. He has spent the past 15 years understanding the Saskatchewan landscape and helping clients solve their environmental challenges.
“Jeremy will bring additional leadership to our Saskatoon office and assist our Saskatchewan client base with their environmental needs,” says Haight. “I’ve known Jeremy for over 15 years, and he embodies everything Trace is about. We are pleased to have Jeremy join Trace and enhance our technical capabilities across all market sectors.”
About Trace Associates Inc.
Founded in 2006, Trace is a 100% employee-owned environmental consulting firm serving Western and Northern Canada. Trace’s team of energetic professionals is capable of managing and efficiently completing all types of projects. We take pride in our enthusiasm, focus on safety, and client responsiveness.
Trace provides environmental consulting services to oil and gas, real estate, development, government, forestry, mining, and industrial clients during all stages of the project life cycle (planning, construction, operation, decommissioning, and redevelopment).
For further information, contact:
Darrell J.I. Haight, B.Sc., P.Ag.
President and CEO
T 780.458.7787 ext. 113
Upcoming Events
CHANGE THE CLIMATE, FIRST ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL GATHERING
FEBRUARY 25-27, 2016 AT MOUNT ROYAL UNIVERSITY
Alberta Ecotrust is seeking partners in presenting Change The Climate, Alberta’s first annual Environmental Gathering in February at Mount Royal
University.
For 24 years Alberta Ecotrust has played a unique role on the environmental landscape. As an important intermediary organization, Alberta Ecotrust builds trust and focuses on solutions. With a vast network and deep understanding of the environmental issues, players and policies in Alberta, Alberta Ecotrust brings people from industry and environmental groups together to address Alberta’s emerging environmental challenges. With support from concerned citizens, small businesses, foundations and their corporate and environmental partners, they have invested in close to 600 environmental projects in Alberta over the last 24 years. Their programs build bridges, support collaborative leadership and invest in high impact organizations and environmental initiatives that benefit communities across the province. With it’s expertise in convening, connecting and facilitating collaboration combined with their extensive data on networks and capacity of the environmental nonprofit sector Alberta Ecotrust is well positioned to improve how ENGOs engage with their communities and invest in their strategic capacity to more positively, collectively and effectively solve the environmental problems facing all Albertans. Through Change The Climate Alberta Ecotrust will gather the sector together in one place to improve how ENGOs connect in meaningful ways with each other, with industry and with government. Change the Climate will offer small businesses and large corporate sponsors alike a premier opportunity to showcase their commitment to environmental stewardship and authentic community engagement. Together with their partners, sponsors and participants they hope to change the climate on how we all work together in the future and create further connections, capacity and collaboration on the environment. Change the Climate is the first step in Alberta Ecotrust’s long-term goal of gathering environmental champions annually to identify issues of highest common priority across sectors, discover strategic opportunities and facilitate widespread cooperative action on Alberta’s environment. There are many ways to get involved, and potential for engagement as a presenter or panel member.
Please visit our website at www.albertaecotrust.com or call us at 403-209-2245 to learn more. “At Cenovus, we’re committed to being a responsible developer of one of Canada’s most valuable resources – the
oil sands. And taking care of the environment is an important part of what we do. That’s why we partner with organizations like Alberta Ecotrust. Their deep understanding of the Alberta environmental non-profit sector allows them to facilitate strategic, collaborative partnerships between a variety of stakeholders across the province. They
challenge all of us to help create a healthy ecosystem for all Albertans.” - Kendall Dilling, Vice-President Environment & Regulatory, Cenovus Energy
BEST 2016 Call for Abstracts and Early Registration Information
May 25 to 27, 2016 | Fairmont Chateau Whistler
Save up to $150 on regular price!
The British Columbia Environment Industry Association’s BEST Conference is the premier Environmental Business Conference in the province of British Columbia. Conference registration includes: welcoming reception, two days of programming (technical sessions and panel discussions), off-site networking reception, and all meals and coffee breaks.
CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
Presenters receive 50% off the conference registration price!
The British Columbia Environment Industry Association invites submissions of papers and technical presentations for its second annual Bettering Environmental Stewardship and Technology (BEST 2015) Conference to be held in beautiful Whistler, BC May 25 – 27, 2016. Papers and presentations are encouraged in, but not limited to, the following areas:
Air Quality
Clean Energy
Construction and Municipal Infrastructure
Contaminated Sites Innovative Technologies / Practices, Case Studies, Lessons-Learned
Emergency Spill Response
Environmental Assessment & Permitting
Environmental Law & Case Studies
Environmental Policy Initiatives
First Nations Consultation & Partnerships
Large Projects Mines, Dams, Road Infrastructure, Terminals, Industrial Properties
LEED Building
Mining
Oil & Gas
Sustainable Business Practice Case Studies
Upcoming Major Project Updates and Successes in Western Canada
Urban Planning/Design/Environmental Sustainability The preliminary selection of papers and presentations will be based on submitted abstracts and reviewed by a panel of peers. Abstracts should be no more than 500 words, should include a presenter biography, the subject(s) you feel your presentation best suits, and must be received by January 15, 2016. Please send submissions via e-mail to [email protected] Notification of acceptance will be given by February 12, 2016. Full presentations must be submitted by April 15, 2016.
Download the Call for Abstracts Visit the BEST2016 Conference website for more information at BestConference.net