Reclamation and Restoration Practices 2014 Opportunities Field Tour

Fifty‐five attendees from industry, academia and government toured 16 in‐situ oil sands sites at various stages of restoration and reclamation at Imperial’s Cold Lake Operations in Sept 2014. Facilitators introduced each site and answered questions during the tour, and encouraged attendees to focus discussion on three topics: (1) conservation and construction, (2) landscape and soils and (3) revegetation. Note takers captured discussion at each site and synthesized the results into a report. The objectives of this event were to: (1) identify best management practices pertaining to construction and reclamation (interim and permanent); (2) select field sites to evaluate construction and reclamation practices and improvements that could be evaluated or implemented; (3) evaluate field sites based on (i) current construction and reclamation practices implemented and (ii) field equipment used for construction and reclamation practices implemented; and (4) identify factors that promoted and/or impeded reclamation success for the development of a guidance document.

Key discussion themes from the tour included drainage and water level management, mounding, operator training tools, seeding with grasses and topsoil quality and quantity. One challenge discussed was a lack of field guides for reclamation purposes at in‐situ operations, and under‐use of existing field guides. There was an identified need to work collectively to develop field guides and operator training tools, perhaps requiring a centralized centre for excellence for in‐situ research and development. Another challenge identified was the alignment of pre‐disturbance data collection with reclamation planning and objectives. Key successes identified included salvaging organics with mineral soils at B Trunk Borrow and outcomes from the surface preparation techniques at B Primary Borrow. A number of surface preparation and revegetation trials were identified as potential Joint Industry Projects at D62/D63 Sump. Long‐term monitoring opportunities for increasing knowledge about wetland reclamation and drainage were identified at several sites. Overall, the need for a shift from prescribed revegetation planning to outcome based planning was discussed.