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University of Alberta student's research could give boost to oilsands reclamation

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A University of Alberta graduate student might have found a way to speed up the long, expensive process of reclaiming land torn up for oilsands extraction.

Prem Pokharel’s master’s thesis showed that loading jack pine and trembling aspen seedlings with extra nitrogen and other nutrients before they were put in the ground at two former northern Alberta mining sites meant the trees grew more quickly.

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“The plants (usually) grow very slowly. Because of that, the whole process of remediation and restoration is occurring very slowly,” he said Monday.

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“The importance of increasing the growth rate of seedlings is doing revegetation and restoration faster.”

His work in 2013-16 involved a couple of thousand seedlings at two unidentified locations totalling about one hectare 25 km north of Fort McMurray.

Finding the best way to rehabilitate oilsands property once the bitumen is gone is a huge issue — out of 650 square kilometres actively used for mines, tailings ponds and other facilities in 2015, only about 60 square kilometres had been permanently reclaimed. 

Even then, it can take decades to qualify for official provincial reclamation certification. Faster progress would have big environmental and economic benefits.

“In reclaimed soil, we want some sort of canopy. It helps the growth of plants under the trees, which will lead to more vegetation and animals,” said Pokharel, who moved to Canada from his native Nepal in 2012 with a background in plant science. 

“It helps develop a natural ecosystem.”

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Last week, he received the US$1,000 best thesis award at the Las Vegas conference of the Western Association of Graduate Schools, made up of 200 institutions in Canada, the western U.S. and the Pacific Rim.

He’s now working toward a PhD in plant science.

Scott Chang, a professor in the U of A’s department of renewable resources and Pokharel’s thesis supervisor, said the tiny trees initially don’t have good root systems and must battle weeds in disturbed soil that’s often poorly nourished, so they need all the help they can get.

“We have seen in many cases land reclamation has to start all over again because the initial planting failed and the planted trees couldn’t compete.”

The next step would be a larger study involving many more sites that would last five to 10 years looking at nutrient-loading techniques for different species before this approach is widely promoted to oilsands companies, Chang said.

Although further research is on hold while they look for funding, he hopes it will eventually go ahead.

“This is a really important issue we have to deal with. We can help improve the performance of the seedlings we plant for revegetation,” Chang said.

“Obviously, it’s not going to be limited to the oilsands. This technique could be applied to other ecosystems as well.”

gkent@postmedia.com

twitter.com/GKentYEG

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