One challenge is that bitumen is very viscous, even when it’s diluted with the lighter oil fractions that allow it to flow – as dilbit – through pipelines. When spilled, dilbit behaves very differently in freshwater versus marine systems, says Diane Orihel of Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, one of Boreal’s leaders. Among other questions, researchers want to investigate how long diluted bitumen will float in freshwater ecosystems, how quickly the lighter component evaporates, how much actually ends up in the sediment and how quickly it enters and accumulates in the food web.

To track where dilbit ends up, the researchers will work in teams, each targeting ecosystem effects in different categories, such as air, water, sediment, periphyton (the community of tiny organisms that grows on submerged surfaces) and animals like wood frogs and fathead minnows. Then they calculate the mass of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – a family of chemicals found in organic materials like oil, which include known carcinogens – in each section.

The Boreal team will also examine how members of the community differ before and after the dilbit spill. What kinds of bacteria, phytoplankton, zooplankton, bottom-dwelling invertebrates, and insects are there? How many of each? And how does bitumen affect their ability to survive, function, reproduce, and provide food for all of the species that eat them?