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Total gaseous mercury (TGM) data are currently collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada at two Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Air Monitoring Stations (AMS). Preliminary, hourly averaged TGM data from the oil sands region are available for: WBEA AMS 6 - Patricia McInnes, located in Fort McMurray, Alberta, and WBEA AMS 13 – Fort McKay South, located near Fort McKay, Alberta. There are no Environment and Climate Change Canada or Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) air quality guidelines, nor Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives, for TGM. The monitoring follows the established Canadian Air and Precipitation Monitoring Network (CAPMoN) standard operating procedures.

Measurements of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) and particulate bound mercury on PM2.5 (referred to as PBM2.5) were collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada from August to September 2013 at the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Air Monitoring Station (AMS) 13 – Fort McKay South, and at WBEA AMS 4 – Buffalo Viewpoint. Monitoring resumed at WBEA AMS 13 in September 2014 with two speciated mercury instruments and is ongoing. One speciated mercury instrument monitors GEM, GOM, and PBM2.5; the second speciated mercury instrument monitors GEM, GOM, and mercury on PM10 (referred to as PBM10). These data are the first atmospheric speciated mercury measurements to be reported in the oil sands region.

Measurements of gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), gaseous oxidized mercury (GOM) and particulate bound mercury on PM2.5 (referred to as PBM) are currently collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada at a Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Air Monitoring Station (AMS). Preliminary, three-hour averaged speciated mercury data from the oil sands region are available for WBEA AMS 13 – Fort McKay South, located near Fort McKay, Alberta. There are no Environment and Climate Change Canada or Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) air quality guidelines, nor Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives for speciated Hg measurements. The monitoring follows the established Canadian Air and Precipitation Monitoring Network (CAPMoN) standard operating procedures.

Ecosystem Sites, Volatile Organic Compounds – Preliminary Data, Oil Sands Region
Volatile organic compounds (VOC) data are currently collected by Environment and Climate Change Canada at a Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Air Monitoring Station (AMS). As of September 27, 2017, raw, hourly averaged, near real-time VOC data from the oil sands region are available for WBEA AMS 25 – Waskow Ohci Pimatisiwin, located in Fort McKay, Alberta. Prior to this date, this instrument was measuring VOCs at WBEA AMS 1 – Bertha Ganter, also located in Fort McKay, Alberta. The VOCs that are currently being measured at AMS 25 are benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m,p-xylenes, o-xylene, styrene, n-hexane, n-heptane, n-octane, 2-methylpentane, and methylcyclohexane.

Monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOC) was initiated by Environment and Climate Change Canada at the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Air Monitoring Station (AMS) 1 – Bertha Ganter, in Fort McKay, Alberta in October 2011. The VOC compounds that are currently being measured at AMS 1 are benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, m,p-xylenes, and o-xylene (BTEX).

All of the validated VOC maximum hourly concentrations are below the hourly Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives (AAAQOs). The annual mean benzene concentrations are also below the annual AAAQO for benzene.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has been monitoring trace metals in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the oil sands region since December 2010. Active PM2.5 sampling is collected at the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) Air Monitoring Stations: Mannix (AMS5), Lower Camp (AMS11) and Fort McKay South (AMS13; until March 2015), using the established protocols and schedule of the National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) Program. In 2015, sampling began for PM2.5 and PM10-2.5 (coarse fraction) at the Fort McKay (AMS1), Wapasu (AMS17) and Stony Mountain (AMS18) sites. The data from the measurements conducted so far show that concentrations of metals decrease with distance from the main surface mining and upgrading activities, and that the crustal elements iron, silicon, aluminum, and calcium are present in greater abundance than other metals detected.

Long Term Air Pollutant and Meteorological Monitoring at Fort McKay’s Oski-ôtin site: Validated data

Continuous monitoring of multiple air pollutants along with meteorological conditions began in Fort McKay at the Oski-ôtin site in August 2013. The purpose of Oski-ôtin’s enhanced monitoring is to gain a clearer picture of the mixture, transport and fate of air pollutants produced from the different oil sands related activities. Compared to the pre-existing monitoring conducted by Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) in Fort McKay and throughout the region, the Oski-ôtin site provides measurements for a larger number of pollutants using research grade instruments (configured to be more precise at lower concentrations). Instruments located at this site also monitor pollutants, winds and temperatures at multiple heights above the ground.

Long Term Air Pollutant and Meteorological Monitoring at Fort McKay’s Oski-ôtin site: Preliminary data

Continuous and integrated monitoring of multiple air pollutants along with meteorological conditions began in Fort McKay at the Oski-ôtin site in August 2013. The purpose of Oski-ôtin’s enhanced monitoring is to gain a clearer picture of the mixture, transport and fate of air pollutants produced from the different oil sands related activities. Compared to the pre-existing monitoring conducted by Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) in Fort McKay and throughout the region, the Oski-ôtin site provides measurements for a larger number of pollutants using research grade instruments (configured to be more precise at lower concentrations). Instruments located at this site also monitor pollutants, winds and temperatures at multiple heights above the ground.

Atmospheric concentrations and deposition rates of particulate elements are important indicators for determining the potential impacts of the oil sands industries on the local environment. The datasets consist of measured ambient air concentrations (in PM2.5 and PM2.5-10) and estimated deposition rates (based on PM10) of nearly 50 trace and major elements in the Athabasca oil sands region, Alberta, Canada. Data correspond to the years 2016 and 2017 for the following air monitoring stations: Fort McKay (AMS1), Buffalo Viewpoint (AMS4), Wapasu Creek (AMS17), and Stoney Mountain (AMS18), which are part of a larger network, monitoring various types of pollutants such as particulate matter, polycyclic aromatic compounds, etc. The samplers were operated once every three (AMS1, AMS4, and AMS18) or six days (AMS17) with a 24-hour sampling time (midnight-midnight) following the National Air Pollution Surveillance (NAPS) program protocol, set by the Environment and Climate Change Canada.

Trace gas data sets measured by Canadian and U.S. ground-based monitoring networks from 1982 to the present including non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), ozone (O3) and total gaseous mercury (TGM). Included are Canadian federal and provincial networks (past and present) and U.S. historical networks (for data not available elsewhere). These data sets are associated with various networks that monitor a variety of trace and reactive gases. Non-Methane Hydrocarbons were measured and monitored in a study at Egbert, Ontario at the Centre for Atmospheric Research and Experiments, CARE.