A Saskatchewan researcher says Alberta is affecting the development of prairie trees.
Colin Laroque, a professor in the University of Saskatchewan’s soil sciences department, said Saskatchewan’s trees are seeing higher levels of reduced growth because of oilsands production in Fort McMurray, Alta.
“With most of the trees here, we don’t think of the oilsands, but the westerly winds blow all the material over towards and into Saskatchewan.”
Laroque and his team tested trees on the Clearwater River Dene Nation in northern Saskatchewan.
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“We floated down Clearwater River and sampled trees on our way,” said Laroque.
The trees weren’t doing well, he added.
Laroque looked into production records of the oilsands and discovered that emissions would increase and blow into Saskatchewan every time production rose. There was little change in the trees before the oilsands were developed, he added.
Laroque said he was surprised that his team could measure the “slow sickness rising in Saskatchewan trees.”
He said the effect on trees could be fixed, but it would mean implementing cleaner production methods and reducing emissions.
“The ability to actually do something is very difficult,” he said. “You’re dealing with two different industries, two different governments, the federal government, and policies that might lean one way or another.”
