2019 WBEA
Annual Report

Message from the President

As we look back over 2019, the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA) has made several accomplishments, and the year marked several new beginnings for the WBEA. From moving to a new building; to anticipating the potential needs, wants, and requirements of a new provincial government; to dealing with funding timing that impacts the organizational capability, the WBEA has continued to deliver on its mission of providing high-quality air monitoring to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. In addition, the strength of being a consensus-based, multi-stakeholder organization is one that is recognized outside of our own membership. That strength is best realized when we have an engaged membership, whether through meeting or committee attendance and participation.

At the AGM in June 2019, for the first time in more than a year, the General Members Board was able to elect a full slate to the Governance Committee, and welcomed Simon Tatlow (Alberta Environment and Parks), Diane Scoville (Lakeland Métis Community Association), and Gillian Donald (McMurray Métis). Even for something as simple as achieving a quorum, having seven members of the Governance Committee has been a benefit, and I appreciate everyone’s time and dedication. In addition to new Governance Committee members, the WBEA added several new Member organizations, including H.J. Baker Sulphur Canada ULC, Lakeland Métis Community Association, Parsons Creek Aggregates, Mikisew Cree First Nation, and Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. It is encouraging that the WBEA continues to see increased participation from its membership, as well as interest expressed from organizations to become members of the WBEA.

In March of this year, I received a tour of the WBEA Centre to see the renovations that will make the facility functional for sustaining the WBEA’s operations. During a tour of the facility in 2018, the Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) Chief Scientist stated the WBEA Executive Director’s concept for the facility was “visionary.” It will be exciting to see how the use of the facility will support and strengthen relationships between the WBEA, its members, and our partners, as well as bring cost savings to the Association and its monitoring network. This endeavor is another example of the WBEA Leadership delivering on the 2017-2021 Strategic Plan goal of not just being good at the work we do but also being recognized as a leader. This is stepping outside the norm and making bold moves to get bold results.

The WBEA leadership understands there will always be a degree of uncertainty around potential changes to political, regulatory, economic, or environmental matters. Continuing to be an organization aligned on the goals we have to achieve, and how best to achieve them – while understanding associated risks to the business – will help position the organization to sustainably deliver quality results. Showcasing those results, as the WBEA has done, also puts the WBEA in a solid position to grow its scope, if that was ever an ask from any of our stakeholders and partners.

The WBEA worked through a Corporate Risk Registry, which will be reviewed quarterly by the Governance Committee. This is another step towards applying best practices in the organization. From a financial audit perspective, this year the WBEA issued a Request for Proposals to multiple companies and received several proposals. As a result, MNP LLP was retained for financial audit services for the 2019-2020 fiscal year. The WBEA’s Operations Leadership Team and the Governance Committee also participated in procurement training, which was a great business literacy opportunity.

Other initiatives advanced by the WBEA this year included a facility lease agreement with AEP for sharing the WBEA Centre with Community Based Monitoring programs for the OSM Program, and a business case for providing analytical services. Some of these initiatives bring sustainable and long-term cost savings to the WBEA. The WBEA has also continued to report on the progress of the 2017-2021 Strategic Plan, which has seen accomplishments by the operations and governance teams.

I would like to again thank all Member organizations and their representatives for their participation. I would also like to thank Sanjay Prasad and the Operational Leadership Team for the time spent, both in the region and outside, to promote not just the WBEA’s achievements, but also what we’re capable of delivering through further collaboration.

I look forward to another great year.

Cliff Dimm, WBEA President

Message from the Executive Director

The WBEA is proud to be a multi-stakeholder, consensus-based organization, and we are known as being a leader in state-of-the-art environmental monitoring. The data we collect and information we share enables informed decision-making for our members, our Indigenous community partners, industry, the government, and the general public. The WBEA continues to foster positive relationships with our member organizations and others impacted by the air quality in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.

2019 was an eventful year for the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association (WBEA). It marked Year 3 of the WBEA’s 2017-2021 Strategic Plan, and the organization continues to be well-positioned to achieve our four strategic goals. As we reported to our General Members at the 2019 Annual General Meeting, the WBEA is working on or has completed over 90% of the tactics included in our Strategic Plan. You can read more about the goals and tactics in the WBEA’s five-year Strategic Plan here.

We continued to work closely with Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP) to develop our 2020-2021 Oil Sands Monitoring (OSM) work plans to ensure alignment with both the WBEA’s and AEP’s strategic and operational goals. The WBEA’s technical program committees also continued to meet and deliver on their respective 2019-2020 work plans. The WBEA provided support for all committees and working groups, and continued to encourage active, multi-sectoral participation.

Highlights from 2019 include technical, operational, financial, and stakeholder engagement activities and initiatives. Below is a summary of those highlights.

Technical

1. The WBEA provided comments to AEP on the Draft Total Reduced Sulphur (TRS) Guideline and Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives/Guidelines (AAAQO/G) clarifications.
2. It was noted in 2019 that the Lower Camp Meteorological Tower required replacing, and the WBEA submitted a business case to the OSM Program to demonstrate the need and a proposed solution.
3. The WBEA participated in two partial ambient air monitoring network audits performed by AEP and received 100% compliance of the Air Monitoring Directive audit criteria.
4. The WBEA, along with its Science Advisors, published a series of research papers focused on the WBEA’s deposition data from 2000-2017. The Special Virtual Issue was published through the State of the Total Environment (STOTEN) and is titled: Relationships Between Air Pollutants and Forest Ecosystem Health in the Oil Sands Region.
5. The WBEA participated in the Clean Air Strategic Alliance (CASA) Air Quality TRS/H2S and NO2/SO2 subgroups for the Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives (AAAQO) on behalf of the Alberta Airshed Council (AAC).

Operational

1. The WBEA revised and finalized its bylaws, Financial Policies and Procedures, governance policies, and Information Technology Infrastructure roadmap.
2. Working with Human Resources and Safety contractors, the WBEA revised its Health and Safety Manual to align with the revised Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) code and Certificate of Recognition (COR) audit requirements.
3. The WBEA’s safety program became more efficient and achieved increased staff engagement through the availability of safety information, forms, tracking, and training programs on an online portal and an app.
4. The WBEA completed the implementation of recommendations of the Corporate Internal Audit Services (CIAS) audit.
5. The WBEA shared its Adaptive Management Pathway paper with key personnel within the OSM Program.

Financial

1. A letter was submitted to OSM Program decision-makers to further explain budget explanations for the 2019-2020 work plans. A second letter was also provided about the WBEA’s minimum funding levels required for the next five years.
2. While waiting for approval of OSM Program work plans, the WBEA operated in cashflow management from April to October 2019.
3. The WBEA received multi-year agreements for OSM Program work plans in November 2019. The agreements are inclusive of 2019 to 2023 funding; the WBEA must submit annual work plans and cost estimates for approval.

Stakeholder Engagement

1. The WBEA received a Canada Summer Jobs Grant to provide a student employment opportunity, which focused on stakeholder engagement and communications. The successful applicant developed materials to promote the Community Odour Monitoring Program (COMP) app in the local region and improve the WBEA’s presence on social media.
2. The WBEA developed an online annual report for the COMP app. More information can be found on the COMP website.
3. The WBEA also received the Knowledge Translation Grant from AEP to support communication and outreach projects.
4. The Keyano College Environmental Program partnered with the WBEA to assist with Keyano’s Air Sampling Program.
5. As a member of the AAC, the WBEA continues to work collaboratively to develop key priorities for the Airsheds to align with government priorities.

The WBEA greatly appreciates the collective knowledge and expertise of the Governance Committee and General Members Board membership. Thank you for your increased and continued engagement and participation over the past year. We look forward to accomplishing our common monitoring objectives together to maintain an efficient monitoring organization in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo to deliver high-quality environmental monitoring programs. I also want to acknowledge the dedication and support of WBEA staff and Science Advisors in working towards and delivering on our organizational goals.

Sanjay Prasad, WBEA Executive Director