Air Pollution in Canada: Sources, Laws, and Interventions

This essay examines the air pollution problem in the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada. It identifies the oil sands as a major source of air pollution, detailing the emission of greenhouse gases, secondary organic aerosols, sulphur oxides, and nitrogen oxides. The essay highlights the health consequences, including elevated rates of leukemia and other cancers, nausea, skin rashes, and respiratory illnesses. It outlines relevant Canadian environmental laws, such as the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, and the Oil Sands Emission Limit Act. The legal/legislative interventions, including emission caps, are discussed, along with their limitations, such as exemptions for electricity generation and pre-2016 refineries. The essay concludes by suggesting the need for further reductions in oil sand production to meet emission targets and protect public health. The paper is well-researched and includes references from credible sources such as the Library of Congress and NRDC.

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH
PUBLIC HEALTH
Name of the Student
Name of the university
Author’s note

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An air pollution problem in Canadian community
A cloud of toxic particles suspended in the air above the oil sands of Alberta is one of the
most potential sources of air pollution in Canada (NRDC, 2014). The situation is so alarming
that it often exceeds the total amount of emission in Canada’s largest city.
Sources of the air pollution
It has been found by the researchers that the oil sands generate secondary organic
aerosols. This class of aerosol is poorly understood as an air pollutant or how it causes pollution.
Apart from the emission of the greenhouse gases released due to the bitumen extraction, there are
many other pollutants that are released due to the bitumen extraction process. Production of a
barrel of synthetic oil results in the formation of twice as much as sulphur oxides and nitrogen
oxides than a barrel of the conventional oils (Lynam et al., 2016). It has been measured by the
scientists, that the minute particles are formed as the vapours saturated with chemicals from the
mining and the processing of bitumen reacts with atmospheric oxygen and the altered to form
solid particles that can easily drift away with the winds. For a long time, the researchers were of
the viewpoint that the oil sands must have been the sources of air pollution and the case is of
concern to the communities who are living downwind Schindler, D. W. (2014)..
It has been found that high concentration of such pollutants pose serious health risks.
Some of them are carcinogens and mutagens that can cause damage to the DNA (Schindler,
2014). Surveys and studies have confirmed an elevated rates of leukaemia and other lymph
cancers in areas surrounding the petrochemical industries (Small et al., 2015). Other effects that

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has been noticed includes nausea, skin rashes, joint pain, exhaustion, and respiratory illness. This
have also led several families to evacuate the space.
Canadian environmental laws relevant to the issue
The Canadian government had formulated a number of acts and laws with respect to air
pollution.
The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, is the main legislation followed to prevent
air pollution. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Transport Canada (TC)
have published certain mandates for regulation emissions. The Oil Sands Emission Limit Act, is
commonly referred to as the emission cap, is an important part of the government’s climate
strategy. It had received a royal assent on December, 2016. It provides a limit to the emissions of
the oil sands throughout the region of Alberta (Library of Congress, 2018).
Legal/legislative interventions have taken place
It was anticipated that the emission caps would restrict the emissions by incentivizing the
oil manufacturing companies. A legislated limit of emission on the oil sands is set to be 100
Mega ones in a year. This emission cap will be applicable to any greenhouse emissions from the
buildings, structures, equipment, vehicles and machineries that are a part of an oil sands site
(Province Of Alberta, 2016).
The limitation of these legislations is that the cap still allowed an increased generation of
emissions, which was about 8.7 % more than the year 2014. The emission cap that was provided
was actually not as hard as one might expect. The first problem is the emission from the

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electricity portion of the co-generation. Co-generation means, simultaneous production of the
steam as well as electricity from the same source, both of which are used in the process of oil
production by steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD). The emissions from the electricity
generated is not counted in the cap. Another problem is that, with the increase of the oil prices in
future, the other major oil sand producer can increase the capacity of their pre-2016 refineries,
which will be benefitted from this exemption.
Next step to be done
Currently, emissions from Alberta’s oil sands were about 66 Mt, but it is not known, how
the remaining 34 megatonnes will be allocated among the future oil sand projects or how the
Alberta Energy regulator, which approves the oil sand project will consider the caps while
receiving applications for new oil sands. However, the impact of this cap on the Canadian
economy is not known, but it can be estimated that, considering the current intensity level of the
emission, Alberta needs to reduce the oil sand production cumulatively. Otherwise, there would
be no cap left between the years 2025 – 2040.

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References
Library of Congress, (2018). Regulation of Air Pollution: Canada. Access date: 11.2.2020.
Retrieved from: https://www.loc.gov/law/help/air-pollution/canada.php
Lynam, M. M., Dvonch, J. T., Barres, J. A., Morishita, M., Legge, A., & Percy, K. (2015). Oil
sands development and its impact on atmospheric wet deposition of air pollutants to the
Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Alberta, Canada. Environmental Pollution, 206, 469-478.
NRDC, (2014).Tar Sands Crude Oil: Health Effects of a Dirty and Destructive Fuel. Access
date: 11.2.2020. Retrieved from:https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/tar-sands-health-
effects-IB.pdf
Province Of Alberta, (2016).OIL SANDS EMISSIONS LIMIT ACT. Access date: 11.2.2020.
Retrieved from: http://www.qp.alberta.ca/documents/Acts/O07p5.pdf
Schindler, D. W. (2014). Unravelling the complexity of pollution by the oil sands industry.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(9), 3209-3210.
Small, C. C., Cho, S., Hashisho, Z., & Ulrich, A. C. (2015). Emissions from oil sands tailings
ponds: Review of tailings pond parameters and emission estimates. Journal of Petroleum
Science and Engineering, 127, 490-501.