Advanced study of unconventional oil behaviour, innovative emergency measures to surface water oil spills: protection of water sources

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The extraction of unconventional oil is growing due to the increasing scarcity of conventional oil reserves and in response to oil demands. This is true for Canada with oil sands (Dilbit from Alberta) and for the USA with light oil (Bakken from North Dakota). The increased transport of these oils by rail and pipeline has brought higher risks resulting in large accidental spills at monumental rehabilitation costs. Notably, the rupture of a pipeline that spilled Dilbit in Kalamazoo River (Michigan, 2010) and a train derailment at Lac Mégantic (Quebec, 2013) implicating Bakken oil that contaminated 190Km of the Chaudière River. These disasters placed in danger human and environmental health by contaminating fresh water sources thereby preventing the use of its ecological services as a source of drinking water, sustaining habitats and for irrigation purposes. The aftermath of these events, have emphasized the lack of preparedness of cities, government and the remediation industry to respond to unconventional oil emergencies. Indeed, due to their fundamentally different physicochemical properties (acidity, viscosity, composition, density, adherence), once spilled, unconventional oil behaves differently from traditional crudes making present response measures insufficient, ineffective and inadequate during emergency and rehabilitation actions. As independent research is critically needed to address these issues, this multidisciplinary, structured research project aims to achieve: I) the advanced physicochemical characterization of Dilbit and Bakken oils; II) the development of innovative adsorbents and oxydants; and III) the evaluation of these oil's natural attenuation and improvement of assisted biodegradation in water and sediments. The research outputs, including knowledge, tools and devices, will assist in the protection of populations and fresh water sources. An important number of HQP will be trained and join the workforce in a critically needed area. Furthermore, the results will be transferred to government, citizen associations, and industry, with and through the participation, and collaboration, of a large and diverse number of NAOs and stakeholders participating to the project.