Calgary 2009 Conference
Lorna Dawson from the McCauley Institue was a guest speaker at the conference and she kindly compiled a blog outlining the conference and her experiences in Calgary:
Lorna’s conference blog
Saturday 29th August
Today was a long and tiring day; it always is when you are gaining or losing time through travel ..... Dr Who, you have my sympathies! Flight excellent, views as we flew over Greenland were tremendous. I imagined the pristine glaciated land below where no man (or indeed woman) had ever walked.
View from the plane
Arrived at the airport to be greeted by a woman wearing the largest stetson you can imagine, driving a golf buggy and insisting that I hop aboard! Well that was the way to travel within airports!!!
Airport transport
As I drove into Calgary city I was struck by the contrast between the browns, greens and yellows of the flat Alberta breadbasket plains with the grey gridded modern city sprawl. In the background I could see the Rockies beckoning..... maybe later...
First afternoon in Calgary – 30th August
Walked the streets of Calgary and was surprised by the many homeless people. Talked to some of the locals sitting enjoying the sun who remarked at the many similarities with the UK. They talk about the House of Commons here similar to the UK. The Senate equates to the House of Lords.... the good guys apparently get into Senate here!
The Old Guys
The old town hall contrasts with the new glass building behind. A city of old and new: living and dying. I wandered to the telecom tower but did not venture up, what with my fear of heights! Instead I went into the gallery and museum. Here I saw the spectacular art and cultural resources. They featured the landscapes of the western Canadian Pacific Railway route.
Tall city scape
My favourite painting was of Lake Louise by Frederic Bell-Smith. The chronology of the painting follows that of the development of the railway. The Canadian people seem to feel at one with their great landscapes, and this is also reflected in the designs and patterns on native goods. The Canadian West certainly is a most majestic and awe inspiring place.The large herds of buffalo that used to be here were destroyed for their fur and then their bones used as fertilizer! However, like a lot of exploitation of natural resources, it was not controlled and as a result numbers dwindled.
As I was walking back out into the sun, I glanced into the education centre and then was persuaded to take part in a creative art production. I made a moving film of my impression of the Canadian landscape through the windows of a train. Maybe an idea for schools work back home? And then I got roped into helping with the visiting Canadian school children. KE indeed!
Helping at the national museum
Afternoon- Sunday 30th August
The International Network of Environmental Forensics (endorsed by the Royal Society of Chemistry), see http://www.inefconference.com/, held in downtown Calgary, got off to a good start. There are over 119 delegates from 11 countries; with over 10 time zones spanned! My body still thinks that it is 7 hours behind....
Poster session
Day 2-Monday 31st August
Fantastic organising committee…. Great group and so helpful….
Good talks; the day started with one from Brian Murphy from Chicago on appropriate methods for detecting sources of chlorinated solvents. Additives, degradation products and the use of isotopes. Isotopes have been used to distinguish manufactured TCE from TCE formed from the degradation of PCE.
The next talk was from Zhendi Wang from Ontario, a world expert on the analysis of spilled oil. There is an oil spill every week, somewhere in the world. Examples shown were those of the Detroit river spill, and the 2004 HMCE submarine fire accident. He showed how integrated oil fingerprinting methods characterise and distinguish the different hydrocarbon sources in spill oil samples when mixed with other hydrocarbons, such as tracing the sources of the spilled crude oil from Hurricane Katrina.
Marion Stelling, from the Netherlands Forensic Institute, gave a presentation on sampling strategies in criminal cases, and showed the need for experts to work together.
Yvan Razafindratandra, from Adamas in Paris, gave a legal perspective in his talk on environmental law as a two way process, arguing that science and law development must work together. Our legal system has origins in Roman law, guided by two arts: the art of discourse and the art of observation. Environmental forensics belongs to the latter art.
This entails the fact finding, analysis and construction of gathered facts. The European Liability Directive sets up a system for soils, water and protected species, not the air. The organisation taking decisions on environmental damage and remedial action is vested primarily in the relevant administrative authority, NOT the judge. Discussion about this and the Water Framework Directive stressed the increasing importance of environmental forensics.
My keynote started off the afternoon session and was well received (I think, although it still felt like I was jet lagged).
The next speaker was Paul Philip from Oklahoma. He showed that while stable isotope analysis will not necessarily provide the silver bullet, it can give additional information that will be beneficial. It can provide a tool to identify source discrimination and the extent of natural attenuation particularly for groundwater contaminants. He also showed the benefits of 2D isotope analysis (i.e. C and H isotopes) in evaluating mechanisms of degradation. It can distinguish abiogenic from biogenic sources.
Thomas Boyd, from the naval research labs in Washington DC, talked about hydrocarbon source apportionment using compound specific C isotope analysis to identify apportionment of blame when there is more than one potentially responsible party. He used multivariate statistics at spatial and temporal scales to assess which well most likely released the hydrocarbon contaminant. Challenges are that groundwater models are not helpful, and fractionation due to degradation is not predictable.
Julie Sueker, of the company Aracadis, considered the issue of dealing with small sample sets. For many constituents, the abiotic and microbial degradation results in a shift in the isotopic composition as the main process is ongoing. Sorption, dilution, and volatalisation have a negligible effect. Predicting this degradation is not yet currently possible. Using case studies, she showed CSIA for nitrate, sulphate, chromate, benzene, MTBE and chlorinated solvents, and that 15 N and 18 O were good indicators of nitrate reduction.
There is so much work going on in the field of environmental forensics, much of which is directly relevant for our work at the Macaulay. It is good to see that we have much in common.
Sculpture in the park
Tired, I headed home early (for Canada; still late for the UK!) to my hotel and then found myself being chased back by a group of junkies! Yes, I had got myself lost in the Chinese zone of Calgary last night (even in a grid-based city a geographer can get lost!) ..... I crashed out in my room exhausted and slightly scared. However, it had been a great day of networking. Great people at the meeting! Gwen and Tina were so helpful; thanks both!
Day 3- Tuesday 1st September
Packed up now and ready for my last day here in sunny Calgary.
The first talk of the day was from Leo Rebele from Gannett Fleming on 3D modelling. Complex lithology and multiple responsible parties all makes forensic work difficult to demonstrate. 3D modelling can be very compelling and effective for communication, with examples of the use of such tools for both investigation and analytical side rapid assessment methods, such as laser induced fluorescence etc. These methods can help prioritise further strategic sampling. The tools are now accepted by regulators and can replace traditional approaches, and indeed can be used for developing a conceptual site model rather than costly soil sampling.
Environmental visualisation tools however are not quantitative. ArcGIS is being used for displaying multiple layers of data, with outputs from kriging analysis to help direct areas of further drilling. This helps represent where sites are in relation to the position of a flume.
Other papers considered:
(i) the sources of contaminants in soils using chemometric techniques, using chemometric approaches for analysing paddy fields and looked for faecal contamination sewage sites;
(ii) the use of receptor modelling to apportion sources affecting chemical composition of particles at the Black Sea. Results of the analysis showed that the main components of the aerosol population included soil particles, sea salt and particles from a power plant on the Black Sea coast of Turkey. This was made up of metal rich particles and particles from traffic emissions which could be sourced to Ukraine, Russia and several Balkan countries;
(iii) arsenic in apatite grains at levels which have been under-represented in past estimates. Arsenic concentrations in background native soil were compared to native mine tailings and paint sludge disposal sites. The arsenic in native and background soil did not correlate with any other soil constituents and there was no association of arsenic in native soil with mine tailings or paint sludge arsenic. The use of a discriminant analysis picked out differences between the groups and results showed a strong separation of all 3 groups largely based on Ba, Pb, Zn, Ti. Undisturbed native soil did not show any indication of contamination from leaching. There was not a good separation between mine tailings.
(iv) Rachel Mohler from Chevron Energy spoke about the appropriate use of statistical tools to improve confidence in analytical conclusions.
Brian Keating of Calgary zoo gave the lunchtime talk about his visit to Borneo. He spoke about Canadians being 'polar people'. While he was in the dark humid life of the tropics (searching for the orangutans!) he kept his sanity by reading the story of Shackleton. He made the parallel to the age of heroics in Shackleton's time. The story was an example of how Shackleton's leadership enabled their survival. Scott by contrast perished through top down leadership. The way to lead is to work alongside group members to gain mutual respect as Shackleton demonstrated. Shackleton knew that humour was important to create bonds and keep one healthy. They had a party where half the men dressed as women! This was called the ‘Ritz party’.
Ernest Shackleton took 4 months to rescue his men from Elephant Island. However, back in Britain they were considered not to be heroes but draft dodgers. The talk ended with shots of the albatross and expressions of optimism and enthusiasm for the environment of our planet. He was a man ahead of his time!
Brian Keating at his book signing
It was hard for any man to follow such an enlightening talk. However, Raul Cano gave an excellent overview about microbial source tracking (MST) and its application. He showed how MST methods are being applied in the development of total maximum daily loads (TMDL) as part of the requirements of the Clean Water Act. He talked about how molecular methods are now being applied to improve our waters by identifying problem sources, and to determine the effects of remedial solutions which had been implemented.
Christopher Kitts of California Polytechnic presented an example of the use of MST techniques for use at Pismo Beach, California. Results were presented from faecal ocean mapping and the detection of e-coli, and the use of new TRFLP source tracking. Through a transect along the beach bird droppings appeared to be the main source of faecal contamination. Dogs defecated on the beach and this was often left. A pigeon survey showed 218 sitting, 117 roosting and 124 were sitting on neighbouring buildings. Michael Black showed that hot spots of faecal indicators were near the pier areas. They designed a sampling system which avoided the area beneath the pier. Sample analysis depended on time after collection. Several beach failures occurred for coliform and e coli. MPN tests were carried out and the spikes over the e-coli limits correlated with times of peak tide. As tide goes out numbers drop. This shows the importance of time and tide for sampling. Who is pooping at Pismo Pier? People, pooches, ponies? Exclusion netting for pigeons is the next likely approach which is right in line with local public opinion.
Zhenhui Goa then gave an interesting summary of the process of automation of visual management
Zhenhui Goa and his team share the platform
It was a great day again and lots of useful information exchanged. It is good to see that in chemical, modelling approaches, statistical, analytical and biological we are up there in our use of techniques along with our peers.
Then we went to sample a traditional cowboy café.. not for the vegetarians amongst us!
Talk by Paul Boehm of Exponent Inc, identified that a proper environmental forensic study in soil or sediments depends on a three part approach: 1 the right representative set of samples, 2 the right set of target analytes with the right quality and 3 the right data analysis approach. Up to 53 compounds are now used. The use of tight SOPs is important. Trained operators are important as GC operator must draw the appropriate baseline. Standard reference materials are essential.
Petrogenic, biogenic and pyrogenic sources can often be difficult to ascertain.
Multiple lines of evidence (ie statistical data analysis) provide the best approach for the use of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAH) in environmental forensics.
Patterns, PCA plots and ratio and double ratio analyses can all be equally informative. Quantitative apportionment techniques is also another approach - source driven is better than sample driven.
Antoine Assal from Bob Kalin's group at Strathclyde showed the great potential of stable isotopic fingerprints of PAHs by GC IRMS. Working on a tar works case it was illustrated that such methods can help decipher new degradation pathways of lighter PAHs. The use of heavier PAHs are more reliable. They do not fractionate.
Results suggest that C and H are subject to the same degradative processes. Position specific isotope analysis is a new development which will help environmental forensics. 'Isotopic fingerprinting' is this term relevant? It implies that they are unique but they have been shown not to be unique.
The distribution of PAHs in urban soils in the US from over 500 sites and 42 population centres was presented by David Mauro of META environmental Inc. The site use was recorded, most being on municipal and heavy residential. Heavy industrial sites were not focussed on. This background data allows regulators to identify sites outside the background signatures. PAHs come from asphalt, pavement sealers, roofing materials, automobile exhausts (modern) as well as more ancient sources. Fluoranthene to pyrene ratio was helpful for identifying sources. However when it was plotted against benzanthracene to chrysene ratio better groupings were identified. The oil and gas industries have an interest in the ability to predict biodegradation of compounds.
A good day with lots of interesting presentations. Food for thought about how these approaches can transfer from one application such as environmental forensics to criminal forensics.
Last day in Canada
....................So sad that I missed the Rockies this time.. they were calling me from the horizon as they shot up into the deep blue sky..the rest of the group were lucky enough to be able to stay on after lectures.. I had to come home....
However, the last evening was bliss with great company and good food............a warm sunny evening with squirrels running about our feet........never mind, I am sure I will be back... ....and thanks Gwen and Tina ..and all the rest of the organising committee. It was a great conference - lots of exciting methods and approaches soon.. and keep in touch!
And then the local beer and seafood….
Cheers!
