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Geotechnical News • December 2013
www.geotechnicalnews.com
WASTE GEOTECHNICS
aims to “develop strategies to ensure
that water released after mine closures
doesn’t have a detrimental impact on
the environment.” He will extend the
research program into another two
areas currently being reclaimed by
Syncrude. One of the areas is a new
50-hectare reclaimed tailings basin
which includes a 17-hectare fen pilot
project. The pilot project will be the
first in the oil sands industry to create
a wetland on formerly mined land.
“The key questions revolve around
what it will take to restore these mine
sites back to naturally performing
landscapes with an equivalent capa-
bility to that which existed prior to
mining. The industry works to estab-
lish uplands with water and nutrient
balances which are similar to natural
sites. They then try to understand the
key processes
that are operative
as they monitor
the evolution of
these landforms
towards fully
functioning
natural systems,”
says Barbour.
While Barbour
is tracking the
water movement
in these areas,
Dr. Matthew
Lindsay, Assis-
tant Professor of
Environmental
Geochemistry
at the University of Saskatchewan, is
proposing to study the biogeochemi-
cal evolution of these hydrogeological
systems. Lindsay is presently prepar-
ing an application as an Associate IRC
to Barbour’s Senior IRC. The results
from their combined research efforts
will enable the long-term monitoring
of the performance of the landscapes
and facilitate environmentally sustain-
able mine closure planning for the oil
sands industry.
Though Barbour says that his IRC
program is one “small part” of several
research partnerships contributing to
a path toward the proper closure and
reclamation of oil sands mine sites, his
research will have far-reaching effects
into a variety of industrial mine sites,
including coal and metal mine sites.
At these sites, tailings and acid rock
drainage are major environmental
concerns, and Barbour’s research will
provide industry with the tools for
monitoring and evaluating the perfor-
mance of these landscapes and will
provide a basis for the design of sound
closure scenarios from a hydrogeo-
logical point of view.
One can sense that much of the work
Barbour is conducting is driven by his
commitment to protecting Canada’s
natural environment and preserving
it for future generations. At the same
time, he will be training the next
generation of geotechnical engineers,
environmental scientists and research-
ers to continue this important collab-
orative work with the oil sands and
mining industries. Of his collabora-
tions with Syncrude’s scientists and
engineers, Barbour says, “it is in large
measure the energy and passion that
these researchers bring to this journey
that gives me the encouragement I
need to take this on.”
Vivian Giang, MA
Communications & Grant Strategist
University of Alberta Geotechnical
Centre
Department of Civil &
Environmental Engineering
3-017 Markin/CNRL Natural
Resources Engineering Facility
Edmonton, Alberta Canada
T6G 2W2
T: 780-492-1436
F: 780-492-0249
E: viviang@ualberta.ca
Dr. Barbour’s research also extends into Syncrude’s
57-hectare watershed that features a 17-hectare fen pilot
project, the oil sands industry’s first attempt at creating a
wetland from the ground up, on land formerly mined and
now in the process of being reclaimed.