The Experimental Lakes Area is proposing to do simulated oil spills in Northwestern Ontario this summer.
Researchers want to perform two different studies.
The first study will look at adding diluted bitumen to enclosed areas of lake water to research where the oil settles and what happens to the organisms in the affected areas.
This specific study is going to be carried out by Julie Blais with the University of Ottawa.
The other study would add conventional crude oil and diluted bitumen to shoreline enclosures to see how each type of oil is affected by waves and the influence it has on the environment.
Head Research Scientist at the ELA Vince Palace says this is a very safe and contained study.
“The Experimental Lakes area is known for its whole lake experiments, and in this case we are not doing a whole lake experiment. We are doing small enclosures to isolate that oil within a column of water so we don’t contaminate the whole lake, we are also removing the product at the end of the studies.”
In 2015 The Royal Society of Canada came out with a report discussing the increasing risk of oil spills in the country.
“One of the things that the Royal Society continued to point out was that at a spill site it is very difficult to discern what the effects are from that spill because there is very little known about baseline data from that site prior to the spill,” Palace adds while talking about the report. “We understand biological variability and chemical variability in our lakes. Anytime we do a manipulation whether that’s a physical or chemical change to the lake we are fairly certain we can discern the impact because we know about the biological chemical variability before hand. In terms of baseline data we stand in a very good position to show what the true impacts are of an oil spill.”
The group is waiting for approval from the provincial government before they move ahead.