Title

Development of Terrestrial Criteria for the Protection of Indigenous Uses (TCIU) in the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Traditional Territory

Fiscal Year

2021-2022

Community/Region

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), Alberta

Principal Investigator

Mandy Olsgard (Integrated Toxicology Solutions)

Community Project Lead

Meghan Dalrymple

Project Members

Cathleen O’Brien, Lisa Tssessaze, Collen Middleton, Amy Gainer, Thomas Dyck, Megan Firth, Megan Spencer and Megan Thompson

Project Summary

The traditional territory of  Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) in northern Alberta contains oil sands development. ACFN members had been concerned with environmental contamination from the oil sands mining since it began in the 1960s. They were particularly worried about the potential impact on their traditional foods and medicines. The objective of this study was to develop remediation criteria for soil that would protect community and environmental health, and Indigenous uses of soil, foods, and medicines. The purpose of the criteria was to guide the remediation and reclamation of mine wastes, and inform environmental contaminant discussions.

The project team used Indigenous knowledge to develop a model that identified the main uses of clean soil and forest ecosystems by community members: traditional foods, traditional medicines, invertebrate health, plant health, wildlife health, and ecosystem function. The team developed a risk model to predict the fate and transport of chemicals between soil and the food web to assess current soil quality guidelines. The team completed 219 consumption surveys with adult and youth community members to develop consumption rates for wildlife and medicinal plants. An exposure assessment was completed, based on their estimated daily consumption levels.

The project team concluded the soil quality guidelines used across North America as health risk criteria did not consider the ACFN interactions with terrestrial ecosystems or bioaccumulation. The consumption rates used in the guidelines were lower than the ACFN community members. This could underestimate their potential risk from exposure to contaminants in traditional foods and medicines. The project team developed remediation criteria that recognized both western science and Indigenous knowledge.  New soil quality criteria for each Indigenous use category were derived using federal guidance and ACFN member consumption rates. The model identified Indigenous terrestrial land uses and exposure pathways that are not necessarily considered in provincial or federal soil quality guidelines. The final report recommended these remediation criteria be used to assess the quality of reclaimed soils at oil sands mine sites to support healthy ecosystems for ACFN members.