Isotopic and Geochemical Tracers for Fingerprinting Process-Affected Waters in the Oil Sands Industry: A Pilot Study

• Main Authors: Jasechko, K., Gibson, J.J., Moncur, M., Birks, S.J., Tattrie, S., Yi, Y., Eby, P., Richardson, K.
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Oil Sands; Tailings; Tar sands; Process Affected Water (OSPW); Isotopes; TR-12; OSRIN; Water Chemistry; Alberta; Athabasca River; Firebag River; Fort McMurray
• Online Access: https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/2117f80f-5202-4ef7-a960-5bd320a1ceaa; https://doi.org/10.7939/R3X921J72

A pilot study was conducted by Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures during 2009 and 2010 to assess potential for labelling process-affected water from oil sands operations using a suite of isotopic and geochemical tracers, including inorganic and organic compounds in water. The study was initiated in response to a request from Alberta Environment and grant funds for the project were obtained from the Oil Sands Research and Information Network, University of Alberta. Three oil sands operators participated in the study, providing logistical support and/or personnel to assist with on-lease water sampling. Alberta Environment and its consultants also provided support for sampling of groundwater. At the outset of the study, Worley Parsons was subcontracted to carry out a detailed electromagnetic survey of the Athabasca River from Fort McMurray to the confluence of the Firebag River, to map high conductivity seeps as potential targets for water sampling. While the priority of this first phase of the study was fingerprinting of water sources (i.e., tailings ponds vs. natural groundwater, lakes, and river water), the survey also sampled a selection of river bed seeps to test application of the methods to identify the origin of these waters near the point of discharge to the Athabasca River. In total 39 samples were collected for this study. These included 8 process-affected water samples, 6 groundwater samples, 8 river bed seepage samples, and 15 river samples. A variety of isotope tracers were measured including oxygen-18 (18OH2O) and deuterium (2HH2O) in water, enriched tritium (e3H) in water, carbon-13 in dissolved organic carbon (13CDOC), carbon-13 and carbon-14 in dissolved inorganic carbon (13CDIC, 14C), sulfur-34 in dissolved sulfate (34SSO4), chlorine-37 in dissolved chloride (37Cl), and strontium-87 versus strontium-86 (87Sr/86Sr) and boron-11 (11B) in dissolved solids. Geochemical analyses included major-, minor- and trace elements, a range of metals, nutrients and total organic carbon, as well as 113 ...