Reference number : GC-2017-Q1-00095, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Dambrowitz, Christopher (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : Alberta, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Applied Research and Development Grants (>$75k), program name french : Subventions de recherche et développement appliquée (>75,000 $), program purpose english : Over 10 hectares of forested upland and peatland were impacted by produced water released on wellsites owned by an oil and gas exploration and production company in northwest Alberta, resulting in increased salinity levels in the soil. To comply with provincial reclamation and remediation policies, the company must restore disturbed sites to "equivalent land capability", i.e. the ability of the land to support the production of forest goods and services similar to those prior to the disturbance. However, the increased salt levels in the soil post-spill present challenges to reclamation as little is known about the salt tolerance (i.e. relative growth in the presence of salinity) of plant species native to the area. In addition to regulatory and environmental issues, the spill also presents financial and liability concerns for the company underscoring the importance of developing effective reclamation strategies._x000D_
This project will investigate reclamation challenges under high soil salinity conditions by studying the salt tolerance of native plant species, the effect of deployment methods (seed versus seedling) and the potential to enhance soil properties using amendments including zeolites, biochars and hydrochars. The project implementation will be a joint effort between two research centres at NAIT (BRI and ABNIR) in collaboration with Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures; a small-sized enterprise; and the company involved in the spill._x000D_, program purpose french : Over 10 hectares of forested upland and peatland were impacted by produced water released on wellsites owned by an oil and gas exploration and production company in northwest Alberta, resulting in increased salinity levels in the soil. To comply with provincial reclamation and remediation policies, the company must restore disturbed sites to "equivalent land capability", i.e. the ability of the land to support the production of forest goods and services similar to those prior to the disturbance. However, the increased salt levels in the soil post-spill present challenges to reclamation as little is known about the salt tolerance (i.e. relative growth in the presence of salinity) of plant species native to the area. In addition to regulatory and environmental issues, the spill also presents financial and liability concerns for the company underscoring the importance of developing effective reclamation strategies._x000D_
This project will investigate reclamation challenges under high soil salinity conditions by studying the salt tolerance of native plant species, the effect of deployment methods (seed versus seedling) and the potential to enhance soil properties using amendments including zeolites, biochars and hydrochars. The project implementation will be a joint effort between two research centres at NAIT (BRI and ABNIR) in collaboration with Alberta Innovates-Technology Futures; a small-sized enterprise; and the company involved in the spill._x000D_, agreement title english : Salinity tolerance of regional native plant species and soil amendment potential for reclamation, agreement title french : Salinity tolerance of regional native plant species and soil amendment potential for reclamation, agreement number : CARD3, agreement value : 370000.0, agreement start date : 2017-05-10, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2020-2021), additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2020-2021), owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada