“Heartland or Heartbreak” is a three-part blog series by Reaching: Conversations on the environment, climate change, and politics in Alberta. Nearly 20 years after the inception of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland (AIH), we explore the long-term impacts on the environment and community. The Heartland is a 582 sq. km. industrial park situation near Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, a partnership between that municipality and the counties of Strathcona, Lamont and Sturgeon. Join us today as we speak with Gord Thompson about Edmonton, the Alberta Heartland and the North Saskatchewan River’s health.
"North Saskatchewan River" by courosais licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Gord Thompson’s career centered on the quality of the Edmonton-area’s water supply and sources. From 2007 until 2019 he served as a technical advisor with the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance, and he came to the role with a wealth of experience. He was a wastewater engineer at Edmonton’s Water & Sanitation Department beginning in 1972 through to 1986, when he was promoted to general manager of the Alberta Capital Region Wastewater Commission until retiring in 2007.
It’s been nearly 20 years since AIH secured approvals from the municipality of Fort Saskatchewan and the counties of Lamont, Strathcona and Sturgeon. The area of the Heartland ballooned from 200-582 sq. km., and hosted a handful of industries. The AIH industrial complex has grown to 40+ businesses since 2001, largely geared toward heavy industry with an emphasis on petrochemical and value added production. The Industrial Heartland is Canada’s largest hydrocarbon processing centre.
Before 2001, and going back as far as the 1950s to when Sherritt first built a nickel cobalt plant in the region; heavy or petrochemical industry already had a large presence, and Thompson says that recognition might have been the impetus for the formation of Alberta’s Industrial Heartland. Many more companies were consolidated within the boundaries of the new complex. He says a convergence of five factors drew petrochemical industries to that specific location: petro-carbon resource; access to transportation; City of Edmonton being a major centre; access to water; and access to salt beds. Thompson says that to some degree, it became easier to plan and regulate environmental factors with a cumulative effect approach to monitoring.
How has the North Saskatchewan River and the surrounding watershed fared?
A 2009 report by the Alberta government identified that, given the amount of planned development for Industrial Heartland, it is essential to anticipate impacts on the North Saskatchewan River and to ensure demand didn’t exceed capacity. Volume flow was not identified as a concern at the time, but the report found that “Water quality has been negatively impacted; Nutrient levels (phosphates & nitrogen nutrients) and the non-fish biotic health index have approached threshold levels downstream of Edmonton.”
Thompson said the condition of the North Saskatchewan River was abysmal in the 1950s. “Even under winter ice cover there was no oxygen in the river.” Effluent materials were eating the oxygen.” Nothing can survive, including fish, he said. Most of this was the result of discharge from the city. Thompson says that continuous improvement efforts to restore the river have resulted in more than a 95 +/- per cent improvement since then, despite a seven fold increase in population. Suffice to say, Edmontonians can now fish in the river, and when providence provides, we get an accidental beach and it’s safe to swim.
Listen to our interview with Gordon Thompson to hear about the efforts by the city, the effects of industry on the North Saskatchewan River and surrounding watershed, and the impact of continuously changing government priorities, departmental reorganization and regulation. [Length: 16 mins]
Listen to our other episodes in this podcast series. Reaching: An Interview with Fort Air Partnership features Nadine Blaney and Godfrey Huybregts of the Fort Air Alliance.
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