| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
In the last decade, unconventional resource development has raised environmental concerns about various issues, including water contamination and
depletion, induced seismicity, wetland disturbance, forest fragmentation, and modification of the vegetation cover. A multidisciplinary project on the characterization of shallow aquifers and assessment of potential impacts of oil and gas (O&G)
development activities in the Fox Creek area in west-central Alberta started in April 2019. One of the most active areas for hydrocarbon production in Canada over the last 50 years, the Fox Creek area has experienced some of the largest induced
seismic events (ML>4.5) related to hydraulic fracturing. The project focusses mostly on a 700 km2 study area and combines fieldwork (including drilling several monitoring wells and conducting geophysical logging); laboratory analyses; interpretation
and analysis of existing and newly acquired data; and numerical modeling. The different models currently being developed include a coupled surface water and groundwater model; a hydro-ecological model; a velocity model; and a geomechanical model of
the entire sedimentary succession. Because the Fox Creek area has been disturbed by the acquisition of seismic surveys and by the construction of pipelines, roads and well pads, NRCan later decided to build on this project to also study cumulative
environmental effects. The project scope is now larger. It includes studies on vegetation, forest, wetlands and landscape evolution, as well as a general study on how to improve the assessment of cumulative effects within the framework of
environmental assessments. In summary, this 5-year project (2019-2024) aims to assess the cumulative impacts of hydrocarbon activities, mainly on water resources, landscape, and ecosystem services. |