ACID DEPOSITION MONITORING PROGRAM EXPANSION COMMITTEE (ADMPEC)

LICA’s Acid Deposition Monitoring Program Expansion Committee (ADMPEC) was formed to assist in the development and oversight of the expansion of LICA’s Acid Deposition Monitoring Program.  The expansion of the Program will be completed in phases:

• Phase One of the expansion will address development of an acid deposition monitoring plan to meet the needs of new regional regulatory compliance acid deposition monitoring and reporting requirements.
• Phase Two will address implementation of the Phase One.
• Phase Three will have a broader scope than Phase One and Two and address further enhancement of the program to implement a complete regional approach to acid deposition monitoring and reporting.

The ADMPEC is an ad-hoc committee of LICA and is supported by representation from industry, government, indigenous communities and the public.  A multi-stakeholder committee composition allows for diverse insight, expertise, and support for the development of recommendations for acid deposition monitoring.

The image below (USEPA, 2021) illustrates the pathway for acid deposition in our environment: (1) Emissions of sulphur dioxide (SO₂) and oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) are released into the air, where (2) the pollutants are transformed into acidic particles. (3) These acid particles then fall to the earth as wet and dry deposition (dust, rain, snow, etc.) and (4) may cause harmful effects on soil, forests, streams, and lakes.  LICA’s acid deposition monitoring plan will be multi-media; it will address direct deposition monitoring as well as potential acidification effects on soils and surface water.

This section of the LICA website includes reference materials and other documents used to support the work of the ADMPEC.

• ADMPEC Terms of Reference

• Meeting Minutes

• Meeting Support Materials

Scientific Studies and Journal Articles

• Estimates of exceedances of critical loads for acidifying deposition in Alberta and Saskatchewan

• An Adaptive Environmental Effects Monitoring Framework for Assessing the Influences of Liquid Effluents on Benthos, Water, and Sediments in Aquatic Receiving Environments

• Exploratory Study of Potential Acidification Impacts on Soils And Surface Water Within The LICA Area

• Aquatic Environmental Effects Monitoring Guidance for Environmental Assessment Practitioners

• LICA Long-Term Soil Acidification Monitoring – Synthesis of Three Sampling Events – 2010 To 2020

Policy Documents

• Using steady-state mass balance model to determining Critical Loads of Acidity for Terrestrial Ecosystems in Alberta

• Alberta Acid Deposition Management Framework

• The design and assessment of the acid deposition monitoring network in Alberta

• Oil Sands Monitoring Program Annual Report for 2017-2018

Monitoring Methods

• Terrestrial Environmental Effects Monitoring Procedures Manual

• Passive Monitoring Techniques for Evaluating Atmospheric Ozone and Nitrogen Exposure and Deposition to California Ecosystems

• How to Measure the Effects of Acid Deposition A Framework for Ecological Assessments