OTTAWA — There are "significant" weaknesses in monitoring pollution from Alberta's oilsands sector that must be corrected, a scientific panel concluded in a report released Tuesday.
The findings were submitted to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government last week after a two-month analysis that was commissioned by former environment minister Jim Prentice.
"The minister asked the panel whether or not Canadians had a first-class state-of-the-art monitoring system in place in the oilsands," said the report from the panel, chaired by Liz Dowdeswell. "In the view of the panel, the answer is no — but . . . We are convinced that the current activities could be transformed into a system that will provide credible data for decisions."
But despite some positive signs and strengths, the panel noted "significant shortcomings in the monitoring system as a whole."