Standing out from the crowd in their sharp dark suits, students from Renewable Resources' fourth-year land reclamation capstone course unveiled their solutions to realistic scenarios with professionalism more than equal to their attire.
Three different reclamation undertakings were outlined in a poster session held by the students in the lobby of Ag/For on March 26.
An abandoned coal mine, a battery and group of well sites, and an urban reclamation project on a former brewery's grounds posed an array of problems that student groups needed to solve. The projects fulfilled part of the requirement of the capstone course, a required element that challenges senior students to draw on the knowledge and experience they've gained during their studies.
The biggest hurdle for the group tackling the coal mine project was the sheer size of the (fictional) 2,000 ha site that was to be returned to a natural area, explained student Lisa Martin. Among its complications were settling ponds that had collected contaminants for almost 30 years, and a nearby diesel spill that had occurred just before the mine closed.
While the solution revolved around an ingenious permeable barrier that absorbs metals, Martin said that her biggest aha-moment occurred when she realized how little time was being allotted the human dimension of the project: the consulting, and the gathering of information and recommendations from nearby residents.
"I think it's the section of the project that most influences it," she said. "It's important that land reclamation experts recognize that."
Student Yike Shen's team was faced with an oil well site pipeline complex and battery facility situated in a boreal forest in northern Alberta. The (also fictional) company that had owned it was now bankrupt and trustees wanted land reclamation to occur as fast as possible, in order to transfer the liability. That created a serious obstacle, said Shen, because a five-year deadline leaves little time to establish regrowth.
Her team decided to deal with all the contaminants in the soil with thermal absorption, which heats the soil and breaks them down.
"It's expensive, but very quick," said Shen. "It takes only 42 days to break down the contaminants and flush them out."
Faced with a hypothetical reclamation of a real site-Edmonton's old Molson Brewery grounds-Tyler Kueber's team wanted to introduce a healthy solution to an urban area that hadn't seen topsoil since 1913, but needed to sustain vegetation quickly.
Clearing the land with chemical fertilizers and trucking in 330 loads of topsoil would have been an expensive and non-sustainable fix that didn't create organic matter. Instead, they sourced 20,000 manure pellets, a recycled product that's hard to find, but worth the effort because it's nutrient dense, releases slowly and increases the vegetation by two per cent in the first year. They also built a green roof on the heritage building that remains on the site.
Retired agrologist Wayne Tedder, one of many local industry members spotted in the event's more than 200 attendees, said he was impressed by all the student work.
"They have a good grasp of the real needs to be addressed and a very good understanding of the detailed science of it, too."
Three different reclamation undertakings were outlined in a poster session held by the students in the lobby of Ag/For on March 26.
An abandoned coal mine, a battery and group of well sites, and an urban reclamation project on a former brewery's grounds posed an array of problems that student groups needed to solve. The projects fulfilled part of the requirement of the capstone course, a required element that challenges senior students to draw on the knowledge and experience they've gained during their studies.
The biggest hurdle for the group tackling the coal mine project was the sheer size of the (fictional) 2,000 ha site that was to be returned to a natural area, explained student Lisa Martin. Among its complications were settling ponds that had collected contaminants for almost 30 years, and a nearby diesel spill that had occurred just before the mine closed.
While the solution revolved around an ingenious permeable barrier that absorbs metals, Martin said that her biggest aha-moment occurred when she realized how little time was being allotted the human dimension of the project: the consulting, and the gathering of information and recommendations from nearby residents.
"I think it's the section of the project that most influences it," she said. "It's important that land reclamation experts recognize that."
Student Yike Shen's team was faced with an oil well site pipeline complex and battery facility situated in a boreal forest in northern Alberta. The (also fictional) company that had owned it was now bankrupt and trustees wanted land reclamation to occur as fast as possible, in order to transfer the liability. That created a serious obstacle, said Shen, because a five-year deadline leaves little time to establish regrowth.
Her team decided to deal with all the contaminants in the soil with thermal absorption, which heats the soil and breaks them down.
"It's expensive, but very quick," said Shen. "It takes only 42 days to break down the contaminants and flush them out."
Faced with a hypothetical reclamation of a real site-Edmonton's old Molson Brewery grounds-Tyler Kueber's team wanted to introduce a healthy solution to an urban area that hadn't seen topsoil since 1913, but needed to sustain vegetation quickly.
Clearing the land with chemical fertilizers and trucking in 330 loads of topsoil would have been an expensive and non-sustainable fix that didn't create organic matter. Instead, they sourced 20,000 manure pellets, a recycled product that's hard to find, but worth the effort because it's nutrient dense, releases slowly and increases the vegetation by two per cent in the first year. They also built a green roof on the heritage building that remains on the site.
Retired agrologist Wayne Tedder, one of many local industry members spotted in the event's more than 200 attendees, said he was impressed by all the student work.
"They have a good grasp of the real needs to be addressed and a very good understanding of the detailed science of it, too."