Why is this research important to Alberta?

• Surface mining of Alberta’s oil sands generates large volumes of oil sands process water (OSPW), posing major environmental and regulatory challenges.
• As mine closure and reclamation timelines tighten, efficient, scalable, and socially acceptable remediation technologies are urgently required.
• This project applies genomics to enhance the performance of constructed wetland treatment systems (CWTS), enabling cost-effective, plant- and microbe-based remediation of OSPW.
• Economically, improved CWTS can reduce long-term financial liabilities for industry; environmentally, they support water quality and ecosystem recovery; and socially, they integrate community perspectives on genomics and nature-based solutions.

The project aligns with Alberta and national priorities in sustainable resource development, environmental stewardship, and bioeconomy innovation.

What is the goal of this work? How will genomics be used?

The objective of this initiative is to:

• Enhance the performance, reliability, and scalability of CWTS for the remediation of OSPW, with a focus on reducing toxicity associated with naphthenic acid fraction compounds.

Genomics is employed to:

• Characterize the structure and function of plant, microbial, and algal communities to identify the organisms, genes, and metabolic pathways that underpin effective contaminant transformation and detoxification.
• Integrate controlled greenhouse mesocosm experiments with long-term monitoring of a pilot-scale treatment wetland, combined with high-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing, biosensor technologies, and detailed chemical analyses.
• Incorporate these datasets into predictive microbial and contaminant fate models to inform wetland design, optimization, and performance monitoring.
• The project further integrates social science research to ensure regulatory relevance and societal acceptability.

Partnerships include academic institutions, federal research organizations, Indigenous collaborators, industry, and regulators, supporting translation of results into evidence-based guidance for large-scale OSPW-remediation.

What are the expected benefits, and how will the research findings be shared?

• Working closely with an industry partner, this project delivers economic, environmental, and social benefits by advancing remediation of OSPW.
• Improved CWTS can reduce long-term liabilities for industry, support mine closure timelines, and lower public remediation risk.
• Environmentally, the research improves water quality and supports large-scale reclamation.
• Social benefits include incorporating Indigenous and public perspectives to support trust and informed policy decisions.
• Quantifiable benefits include enabling treatment of tens to hundreds of millions of cubic metres of OSPW and reducing monitoring and treatment costs.

Findings will be shared through guidebooks, publications, outreach, a workshop, and community-engaged decision laboratories.

Related Resources

Related information can be accessed through:

• News article: Genomics project awarded $6M in funding for research into oilsands remediation | News | University of Calgary
• Research publication: Multi-year trends in the spatiotemporal occurrence and fate of naphthenic acid fraction compounds in a pilot-scale engineered treatment wetland
• Research publication: Enhancing naphthenic acid attenuation in mesocosm wetlands: The role of temperature, plant species, and microbial communities
• Research publication: Microbial degradation of naphthenic acids using constructed wetland treatment systems: metabolic and genomic insights for improved bioremediation of process-affected water
• Research publication: Development and testing of a mechanistic model for wetland treatment of neutral and polar organic contaminants in oil sands process-affected water
• Research publication: Construction of Whole Cell Bacterial Biosensors as an Alternative Environmental Monitoring Technology to Detect Naphthenic Acids in Oil Sands Process-Affected Water