It was four years ago when  Corey Wells stumbled upon what he calls an “incredibly salty” wetlands region by Fort MacMurray. A hydrologist, Wells says while the region looked like many other wetlands in Alberta this one has a higher saline content than sea water.

Saline spring wetlands are not unusual, it’s just they are usually found near large rivers.

 The upside is because there is a lot of saline matter left behind in old mines, reclaiming the land might be easier knowing what can survive in a saline wetland.

A project is currently underway involving Suncor, Shell & Imperial.

The downside could be that because it is likely the salty water flows up from beneath bitumen layers.  If oil companies inject steam and chemicals into the ground to get at the bitumen, there is a chance the waste water could mix with the salty water and make its way to the surface. That could contaminate the saline wetlands.

Wells tells the Edmonton Journal, “operators need to take into consideration the location of the springs and their potential connections to subsurface storage zones. That way we can prevent the re-surfacing of process water back into the natural environment.”

(Source: Edmonton Journal)