Since the late 1980s, the global pulp and paper industry has made substantial changes in mill operating conditions. These changes were designed to reduce environmental impacts in compliance with regulatory requirements. For example, Canadian regulations have led to the elimination of toxic substances from mill effluents through a combination of reduced use of molecular chlorine in bleach plants and the installation of biotreatment systems.  These targeted actions have combined to reduce emission of organochlorines such as polychlorinated dioxins and furans, and reduced biological oxygen demand (BOD), acute toxicity, and suspended solids in effluents.

As part of the 1992 Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations under the Fisheries Act, the Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) Program evaluates whether discharge limits adequately protect downstream receiving environments. Environment Canada recently conducted a national assessment of three monitoring cycles of EEM data from across Canada. The assessment demonstrated that mill effluents are causing general enrichment of their receiving environments and metabolic disruption in fish.  Research conducted under the EEM program has proven to be invaluable in characterizing the effects of effluents on aquatic ecosystems and more recently in progressing towards causes and solutions.

Seeking Solutions through S&T

The objective of EEM is to assess the adequacy of the Regulations in protecting fish, fish habitat, and the use of fisheries resources, by measuring the potential effects of effluent on fish populations, fish tissue tainting and benthic invertebrate communities. Potential effects are assessed using regular, cyclical monitoring and interpretation phases.  All pulp and paper mills are subject to the Regulations. There are more than 100 facilities across Canada that conduct EEM studies for each cycle.

In essence, EEM is a science-based tool intended to detect and measure changes in aquatic receiving environments potentially affected by human activity (i.e., effluent discharges).  Adult fish and benthic community surveys are conducted at the same locations, which provide both a spatial characterization of potential effects and a record-through-time to assess changes.  The national assessment of the first three cycles of EEM showed that fish below pulp and paper mills grow faster, are fatter, have enlarged livers, and allocate less energy to reproduction (e.g., smaller gonads).  The causes of increased growth and fatty fish are associated with nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon contents of effluents and depend largely on the conditions of the receiving environment. Determining what is causing smaller gonads and other effects on fish reproduction has proven to be very complicated. The evidence to date points to natural compounds from trees entering the effluent and causing the effects on fish reproduction.

Observed effects above an established level of concern trigger an “Investigation of Cause,” wherein the source of the effects and potentially the causative chemicals must be identified.  Research by the Water Science and Technology Directorate (WSTD) of Environment Canada’s National Water Research Institute has played an instrumental role in this investigation, from guidance development for EEM to ongoing scientific support, and now active involvement in the Investigation of Cause.  WSTD scientists are partnering with other leading researchers in the field from FPInnovations-Paprican, the University of Guelph, the University of Prince Edward Island and Wilfrid Laurier University to identify the cause and solutions for fish reproductive impairment.  This unprecedented close collaboration is necessary to tackle the complex, long-standing issue at a national scale.

Transforming Knowledge into Action

Who can use these results?

Environment Canada and stakeholders can use the information produced through this collaborative research to formulate cost-effective strategies for eliminating effects on reproduction associated with the effluent discharges, thus ensuring the viability of both aquatic organisms and the pulp and paper industry.

One of the foremost strengths of research conducted within the EEM program is the provision of detailed scientific information in a format that can be understood by risk managers, regulated industries and other stakeholders. Communication across jurisdictions and professions increases overall understanding of the assimilative capacities of fish and benthic invertebrate communities within aquatic ecosystems.

A 2005 SmartReg review streamlined various functions of EEM, which included establishing a mandate for Environment Canada to work with stakeholders on investigating the causes and solutions of fish reproductive effects. The review ultimately led to regulatory amendments which were published in Canada Gazette, Part II on August 6, 2008.

Although EEM is currently applied in Canada to pulp and paper and metal mines, the concept is applicable to other types of stressors to aquatic ecosystems. As such, EEM can be used as an assessment tool to help determine the sustainability of human activities on ecosystem health.

Benefits to Canadians

The national assessment of the first three EEM monitoring cycles has generated conclusive evidence that, despite significant improvements in effluent quality, subtle effects such as nutrient enrichment and metabolic disruption are still observed in aquatic receiving environments.  Efforts are now being directed toward finding the specific sources and causes of the effects.  Cooperative research is leading to faster movement on the assessment of abatement options, cleaner effluents and reduced environmental impacts.

EEM goes beyond “end-of-pipe” measurement of chemicals in effluent in order to examine the effectiveness of environmental protection measures directly in aquatic ecosystems.  The program also helps provide a nationally consistent approach, based on the "polluter pays" principle, to determine if effluents are causing effects in ecosystems.  The success of the EEM program for the pulp and paper sector has already been extended to the metal mining sector, and there is potential for use in the municipal sewage and the petrochemical sectors.  Other countries (e.g., Chile) are considering EEM as a science-based approach to determine the effectiveness of their regulations in protecting the environment.

The Canadian EEM Program is unprecedented in the world for its magnitude and mandatory requirements.  EEM provides the mechanism to bring researchers (academic, industrial and government) and decision makers (regulators, industry) together to solve complex, real-world problems.  In the long run, cooperation is likely to be more cost-effective and yield speedier benefits for the environment.  Improved surveillance, enforcement and pollution prevention are critical to our economy and our environment. EC’s S&T is making those improvements possible, helping to protect Canadians from risks to the environment, and to fish and human health. 

For more information:

National Investigation of Cause Project for effluent effects on fish reproduction

National Assessment of Pulp and Paper Environmental Effects Monitoring Data. NWRI Scientific Assessment Report Series No. 2.

A Decade of Research on the Environmental Impacts of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluents in Canada (1992-2002). NWRI Scientific Assessment Report Series No. 4.

7th International Conference on Fate and Effects of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluents held jointly with the 9^th International Water Association’s Symposium on Forest Industry Wastewaters. June 14-17, 2009.

What is Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM)?

Annual Report 2007 – The State of Canada's Forests

Improving the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Pulp and Paper Environmental Effects Monitoring: A Smart Regulation Opportunity

S&T Liaison | Tel 905 315 5228 | Fax 905 336 4420
© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Environment, 2008.
Catalogue No. En164-15/11-2008E; ISBN 978-1-100-11299-2