In a study conducted on toxic elements contributed by oil sands development in the Athabasca River in Alberta, Canada, has brought forth the hidden claims of the government. An article written in The Tyee titled Oil Sands Pollute with Fish-Killing Toxins, New Study Shows Detection of high heavy metals levels in Athabasca River contradicts government claims, publicizes the study and journal written by David Schindler and five other authors. The journal which the article references was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), titled Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries. The paper in which references the journal written does in fact cover much of the information in the primary source, and allows the readers to understand an overview of the study done without creating a false conclusion in which the study provided evidence. The secondary source does however miss some points, which is expected when summarizing a lengthy journal, and lacks detail behind the study, which again is expected since it is written for the general public. Some contrast between the two papers involves the lack of in depth description, which adds some bias towards the extreme amount of toxic pollutants throughout the river, and the immediate effects it has on our ecosystem.
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Comparisons between the primary and secondary sources are the exceeding levels of priority pollutants (PPE) in the Athabasca River, both documents include the types of toxins which are being deposited in the river including mercury, arsenic, lead, cadmium and the list continues. Each paper goes on to describe some of the effects of the PPE on humans directly and the aquatic life which leads to bioaccumulation. The PPEs being deposited are directly correlated to the new oil sand development sites along the Athabasca River. Another common topic in both sources is the falsification of claims made by both the government and Regional Aquatic Monitoring Program (RAMP) towards the amount and types of pollutants being deposited by upgrading facilities though leaching of mine sites and particulates in the air. The evidence from the study directly proves that the levels of the priority pollutants exceeds “Canada’s or Alberta’s guidelines for the protection of aquatic life…” (Schindler, 2010), the secondary source also agrees with this and follows suit in mentioning guideline infractions. The Tyee quoted Schindler about a comment made about RAMP supporting his idea that, “Any monitoring program that can’t detect these kinds of contaminants is an incompetent program” (Nikiforuk, 2010), the comment was under the subheading “Ramp should be scrapped” in the article. The primary source had the same impression about RAMP writing “…the oil sands industry substantially increases loadings of toxic PPE to the AR [Athabasca River] and its tributaries via air and water pathways. This increase confirms the serious defects of RAMP, which has not detected such patterns in the AR watershed.” The media article follows suit in justifying the ideas of the journal and allowing the readers to feel as strongly about the misleading information produced by RAMP, which “every year monitors water quality and fish health on the river since 1997. Yet every year the industry-funded group gives the oil sands industry a clean bill of health: ‘no effects’.” (Nikiforuk, 2010). These are just a few of the points the secondary source covers which are directly relative to the primary source.
Differences in the sources stems from lack of the information translated from the journal to the news article. The first major contrast in the secondary source from the primary source is the data given about “polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the snowpack over a four month period” (Nikiforuk, 2010), stating that “The study documented… equal to a 5,000 barrel oil spill on the Athabasca River watershed every year.” (Nikiforuk, 2010). From the information gathered the primary source did not mention the link between the amount of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC) and an exact data comparison to an oil spill. The news article was correct about the deposition within the 50km radius being high, but the amount being equal to a set data of ‘spilled oil’ was misleading and not mentioned in the journal. Another difference in information stated from the primary to the secondary source is the reference towards PPE levels, some toxic elements were actually considerably lower in 2008 compared to 1978. The lower levels of aluminum, vanadium and thallium have most likely been in direct relation to the installation of precipitators on oil sand processing plants. The flip side to that statement is the evidence collected, which is mentioned in both sources, that confirms deposition levels of many other toxins (PPE) have greatly increased in 2008 than they were in 1978-81. The primary source indicates that some elements may be more readily found at different distances from an oil sands development site, since “particulate elements decline more rapidly with distance… than do dissolved elements.” (Schindler, 2010).
The sources compared both had comparable claims and the secondary source followed a very well established guideline of what the published journal was explaining. Most of the points in the news secondary source were well summarized from the primary source, and quotes from Schindler and his paper allowed the reader to connect the secondary source to the primary source, with facts and statistics. Nikiforuk, the author of the article titled Oil Sands Pollute with Fish-Killing Toxins, New Study Shows Detection of high heavy metals levels in Athabasca River contradicts government claims, had a well established news article, referencing the journal titled, Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at low concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries, authored by Schindler and five other colleagues.
Nikiforuk, Andrew. "Oil Sands Pollute with Fish-killing toxins, New Study Shows
Detection of high heavy metals levels in Athabasca River contradicts government
claims." The Tyee 30 Aug. 2010. 22 Sept. 2010
Schindler, Kelly, Hodson, Short, Radmanovich, Nielsen. "Oil sands development
contributes elements toxic at low concentration to the Athabasca River at its
tributaries." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 14 Sept. 2010. 22
Sept. 2010
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