Environmental Monitoring and Rehabilitation (EMR)

Environmental Monitoring and Rehabilitation (EMR)

Environmental Monitoring and Rehabilitation, founded in 2000, is engaged in interdisciplinary research that uses the superb natural laboratories of the region to study the effects of both emissions and of abatement technologies on both affected and near-pristine land systems, as well as on human health issues through studies of water quality.

Services:

Our goal is to develop analytical systems, monitoring procedures, and provide research and technical services to support the needs of mining and other resource industries.

Our speciality and expertise:

Environmental systems monitoring:

Ecotoxicological research:

Mine operation effects monitoring:

Geological monitoring:

Environmental data management services:

Projects:

EMR is constantly involved analytical work, graduate and field research. Here are some of the larger projects we have recently undertaken:

• Aerosolic Geochemistry

  • Building on recent theses and studies examining the nature and chemistry of regional aerosols and precipitation EMR has initiated a series of new environmental monitoring projects focused on further developing our understanding of both the provenance of sulphur in the Northern Ontario airshed, and on documenting the chemistry and speciation of aerosols both in Northern Ontario, Michigan, New York State and conterminous Quebec in association with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
    
    A Memorandum of Understanding between the Canadian Light Source (CLS) and EMR, signed March 13, 2008, aims to develop collaborative research projects with multiple partners from the mineral industry. The agreement's purpose, to identify of chemical forms of potentially toxic elements from particulates generated by industry in resource extraction, processing, and waste management, is vital to validate safety standards, satisfy regulatory requirements and to develop remediation strategies. EMR's involvement with this project will include determining the chemistry, mineralogy and morphology of the particulates.
    
    The first project being conducted under the agreement is already underway with Vale Inco Ltd.. and Xstrata, with the CLS determining the amounts and chemical forms of nickel and other transition metals that are encountered in air filter particulates during mineral processing from smelters and refineries in several countries. EMR researchers are providing detailed mineralogical, chemical and electron optical information to assist in the interpretation of the synchrotron data.

• Water Quality and Quantity

  • The dominant Sudbury watershed, featuring Ramsey Lake, is a "living laboratory" for the study of the effects of a century of extreme industrial acid and metal-laden emission impact. With water sources from groundwater, streams from conservation lands, and runoff from urban infrastructure, Ramsey Lake provides a unique challenge, responsibility and opportunity for environmental monitoring research.
    
    Long-term monitoring of Ramsey Lake has allowed for the development of dynamic predictive models, crucial for planning and effective watershed stewardship. EMR is working to improve our ability to detect, measure, quantify, collect, analyze, and display key data describing the Ramsey Lake environment. However, there is a pressing need to interpret environmental events occurring on shorter time-scales. Using innovative monitoring techniques, such as an underwater towed vehicle (UTV), automated and dynamic monitoring tools and geochemical and statistical analysis, EMR is creating high-resolution, multi-dimensional data sets to understand groundwater, surface water and potential contaminant interactions. These tools may allow for the rapid identification of sources of potential contaminants and may help to relate climate change to water quality.

• Biofuels

  • As a research contributor to NRCan's Green Mines-Green Energy initiative, EMR is helping to transform mine tailings sites into crop-covered fields for the production of biofuels. These mine tailings sites are covered with organic wastes, including paper sludge, to neutralize the acidic tailings and to provide a growth medium for the crops, which may include corn, soy beans, and canola.
    
    Field trials will begin in the Spring of 2008 at three Ontario mines - Vale Inco's Copper Cliff tailings near Sudbury, Goldcorp's Delnite tailings near Timmins and Xstrata Nickel's Strathcona tailings in Onaping (west of Sudbury). EMR's role will be to examine the interaction between the biosolids and tailings to determine if there are concerns about drainage, metal mobility or toxicity. EMR is also working with the local agricultural community in assessing the suitability of soils amendments to boost yields of both bioenergy and conventional crops.
    
    For more information see: Green Mines-Green Energy (NRCan).

For more information, contact:

Sean Maloney
Environmental Monitoring and Rehabilitation (EMR)
Tel: (705)675-1151 Ext. 5086
Email: smaloney@mirarco.org