##  [Plant Growth on Aggregated Oil Sands Processing Wastes](/resource/plant-growth-aggregated-oil-sands-processing-wastes) 

Organization

[Canadian Land Reclamation Association (CLRA)](/organization/canadian-land-reclamation-association-clra)

[InnoTech Alberta (ITA)](/organization/innotech-alberta-ita)

[Syncrude Canada Ltd. (SCL)](/organization/syncrude-canada-ltd-scl)

 

 

Project

[National CLRA Conference Papers](/project/national-clra-conference-papers)

 

Resource Type

[Report](/taxonomy/term/38)

 

 

Author(s)

Jim Storey

Martin Fung

Paul Yeung

Xiaomei Li

 

 

Resource Date:

1996

 

Page Length

10

 

 

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to evaluate plant performance on the aggregated oil-sand processing residues. Seedlings of three species, "AEC Highlander" slender wheatgrass (*Elymus trachycaulus* subsp. *trachycaulus*), alpine milkvetch (*Astragalus alpinus* L.), and saskatoon (*Amelanchier a/nifolia*, smokey), were transplanted into aggregates made from: (1) MFT(mature fine tails):CT(composite tails)(1:1 ratio) amended with 5, 10, and 15% peat moss, and (2) MFT:TS(tailings sand)(1:1 ratio) amended with 5, 10, and 15% peat moss. Standard land reclamation coversoil material was used as a control. For each species, the growth rate, total shoot and root dry mass were compared among the aggregate treatments. The growth of slender wheatgrass showed no significant differences among treatments. The growth of Saskatoon seedlings increased with increasing peat moss in the aggregated materials. Alpine milkvetch performed poorly on all the treatments. This was attributed to sensitivity of milkvetch to the high salt contents in the aggregated residual materials. This study indicated that it is possible to create a plant growth medium using oil sands processing residues.