Environmental Protection Laboratory Services

There are two Environmental Protection Labs (EP Labs) in the Prairie and Northern Region:

• Chemistry Laboratory in Edmonton (technical specifications)
• Ecotoxicology Laboratory in Edmonton (technical specifications)

These laboratories are fully equipped facilities, capable of handling a broad range of analytical requirements for chemistry and ecotoxicology.

The labs conduct the following activities:

• provide legal analysis to support the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and the Fisheries Act
• support for major analytical projects for national and international programs
• undertake research projects
• training of scientists
• develop reference methods.

The labs are accredited according to ISO 17025 standards as assessed by the Canadian Association for Environmental Analytical Laboratories (CAEAL) and participate in other quality assurance inter-laboratory proficiency testing programs.

In addition to Environment Canada, the labs support other federal government departments as well as provincial governments in the prairies. They do so by providing advice and analytical support for environmental projects and related activities.

The laboratories also design and implement intra-laboratory studies to validate procedures, and they manage a Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) program that ensures quality of data.

Support to Science and Technology Programs

During the last few years, EP Labs were involved in a number of science and technology programs.

Enforcement Programs

The major focus of EP Labs in Edmonton is to support the enforcement program in the region and nationally. Major activities are:

• providing analyst advice and legal analysis to enforcement officers for both Canadian Environmental Protection Act and Fisheries Act regulations (an average of 500 legal samples equivalent to 6,000 tests per year)
• developing new methods for emerging regulations and/or to overcome analytical problems
• performing regulatory audits of toxicity test reports to ensure that commercial laboratories are in compliance with Environment Canada Reference Methods.

Research Programs

In collaboration with Environment Canada (EC) and other scientists, EP Labs provide analytical support to a variety of research programs. The following are some examples:

• Exploration Drilling Program in the Northern Division - providing advice/analytical support (7,000 tests per year)
• study/evaluation of toxic substances from the Priority Substances List
• study of pesticide levels in central Saskatchewan wetlands
• atmospheric concentrations/transportation of toxic chemicals
• Mackenzie Basin Impact Study.

Sediment Programs

Major activities are:

• support of EC Water Survey Division Sediment Programs nationally by EP Labs in Edmonton
• analysis of 2,000 samples per year for sediment concentration, dissolved solids and particle sizing.

Hazardous Atmospheric Pollutants (HAPs) Program

Major activities are:

• support of the HAPs program for both EP and the Environmental Conservation Branch by the EP Labs in Edmonton
• development of innovative methodologies for the analysis of new pollutants
• analysis of an average of 200 samples per year for monitoring and research.

Environmental Emergencies

In addition to the analysis of emergency spill samples on an as required basis in support of division offices, the Labs in Edmonton responded to major environmental emergencies such as:

• Hub Oil Refinery fire - Calgary
• Grand Coulee Pesticide Warehouse Fire - Saskatchewan
• Waterton Lakes National Park toxic spill cleanup.

International Training on Laboratory Standards

Environment Canada's Laboratory (EC Lab) in Edmonton, in conjunction with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), provides expertise and training to other international laboratories and scientists in the fields of Laboratory Standards, Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) and Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS).

EC Labs has recently completed the training of laboratory staff at the Central Laboratory for Environmental Quality Monitoring (CLEQM) in Kalubeya, Egypt. The goal of the initiative was to have the CLEQM in Egypt achieve ISO 17025 accreditation through an ISO accredited organization. After three years of training of the Egyptian Directors, Managers and staff, in both the EC Edmonton Lab and their Egyptian lab, this goal was accomplished in November 2004.

The accreditation of CLEQM will not only benefit the global environment, but will ensure Canada's resources, spent through CIDA, will be used to acquire environmental data that are of the highest quality. In addition, CLEQM can now provide leadership to other countries in the North Africa Region engaged in producing high quality environmental data.

EC Labs have been involved in the training of scientists from several countries, including Vietnam, Germany and Barbados, to produce quality environmental data consistent with international standards.

Other Environment Canada Laboratories

• Northern Water Research Institute (NWRI)
  • Saskatoon
  • Burlington
• Environmental Technology Centre (ETC)
  • River Road
• National Wildlife Research Centre (NWRC)
  • Burlington