Demonstration Pit Lake research & monitoring program for evaluating permanent aquatic storage structure technology & closure management for generating a self-sustaining ecosystem

阿尔伯塔的油砂在该省、加拿大和全球经济中发挥着至关重要的作用，为世界提供稳定、可靠的能源，并为阿尔伯塔和加拿大提供重要的收入。然而，阿尔伯塔的油砂开发因其巨大的环境足迹和不利的环境影响而受到加拿大和国际环保组织越来越多的严厉批评。为了解决这些问题，已提出坑湖作为可能的土地/水复垦方法，同时处理工艺用水和管理尾矿。坑湖在全球范围内被采矿业用作最终复垦景观中的永久特征。然而，迄今为止，坑湖尚未被批准永久使用的油砂采矿业的阿尔伯塔能源监管机构。在拟议的NSERC合作研究与发展（CRD）计划中，我们将制定一个综合性的多学科研究计划，旨在监测和评估永久性水生存储结构（PASS）技术（使用内联絮凝和混凝剂来创建处理过的流体尾矿存款）和水生封闭管理设计的组合，用于试点规模的示范坑湖（DPL）设施将导致自我-在加速的时间框架内维持北方湖泊生态系统。拟议研究的结果将为运营商和政府机构提供有关坑湖设计和运营参数的重要信息。DPL项目是北方阿尔伯塔的一个世界级示范规模研究设施，将有助于解决工艺水处理和尾矿管理方面的监管和知识差距。此外，工艺用水对选定测试生物的毒性影响的综合分析结果将有助于政府监管机构制定将经处理的工艺用水安全释放到环境中的指导方针，旨在保护环境和公众健康。

Alberta's oil sands play a vital role in the provincial, Canadian, and global economies, supplying stable, reliable energy to the world, and important revenue to Alberta and Canada. However, Alberta's oil sands development has faced severe and increasing criticism by Canadian and international environmental groups because of its huge environmental footprint and adverse environmental impacts. To address these concerns, pit lakes have been proposed as possible land/water reclamation approaches to simultaneously treat process water and manage tailings. Pit lakes are used globally by mining industries as permanent features in the final reclaimed landscape. However, to date, pit lakes have not yet been approved for permanent use in the oil sands mine industry by the Alberta Energy Regulator. In the proposed NSERC Collaborative Research and Development (CRD) Program, we will develop a comprehensive and multidisciplinary research program designed to monitor and evaluate if the combination of Permanent Aquatic Storage Structure (PASS) technology that uses inline flocculation and coagulants to create a treated fluid tailings deposit and aquatic closure management design for a pilot scale Demonstration Pit Lake (DPL) facility will lead to a self-sustaining boreal lake ecosystem in an accelerated timeframe. The findings of the proposed research will provide operators and government agencies with essential information on the design and operating parameters for pit lakes. The DPL project - a world-class demonstration scale research facility in northern Alberta - will help address regulatory and knowledge gaps in term of process water treatment and tailings management. Moreover, the results from the comprehensive analyses of the toxic effects of process water on selected test organisms will help government regulators set guidelines for the safe release of treated process water into the environment, aiming to protect both the environment and public health.