Salinity tolerance of regional native plant species and soil amendment potential for reclamation

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Over 10 hectares of forested upland and peatland were impacted by produced water released on wellsites owned by an oil and gas exploration and production company in northwest Alberta, resulting in increased salinity levels in the soil. To comply with provincial reclamation and remediation policies, the company must restore disturbed sites to "equivalent land capability", i.e. the ability of the land to support the production of forest goods and services similar to those prior to the disturbance. However, the increased salt levels in the soil post-spill present challenges to reclamation as little is known about the salt tolerance (i.e. relative growth in the presence of salinity) of plant species native to the area. In addition to regulatory and environmental issues, the spill also presents financial and liability concerns for the company underscoring the importance of developing effective reclamation strategies.This project will investigate reclamation challenges under high soil salinity conditions by studying the salt tolerance of native plant species, the effect of deployment methods (seed versus seedling) and the potential to enhance soil properties using amendments including zeolites, biochars and hydrochars. The project implementation will be a joint effort between two research centres at NAIT (BRI and ABNIR) in collaboration with Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures; a small-sized enterprise; and the company involved in the spill.