| Popis: |
Forensic analysis of environmental samples contaminated with crude oil and refined petroleum products can be a daunting task, particularly in Alberta where there is a long history of oil-related activities. The challenge often is to determine the source(s) responsible for observed contamination in order to properly assign liability. Once petroleum is released to the environment it can undergo weathering and/or mixing, which can make it difficult to properly identify the source(s) responsible. Procedures have been developed by the Center for European Norms to identify sources of spilled petroleum observed in aquatic systems. These procedures quantify the degree of change observed in environmental samples and as such determine which data is most appropriate to employ in making source and environmental sample comparisons. Although designed for use in aquatic spills, we have applied these procedures to petroleum spills observed in the terrestrial environment. Caution is warranted when applying the CEN methodology to environments other than aquatic systems. The main reason for this is the potential inference from extraneous naturally occurring material or preexisting contamination which is usually not observed in spilled oils recovered from aquatic systems. In this chapter, the application of the CEN method is used in investigating three land based petroleum spills in Alberta Province in which soils and wildlife samples are compared to the suspected source oils. |
