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EDMONTON — Prominent scientists are warning Alberta’s environment minister that disbanding an arm’s-length body that monitors the environmental impact of the oilsands is a mistake.

“Minister (Shannon) Phillips believes that there is public trust in government science,” says a letter signed by 10 A-list researchers.

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“It is our experience in dealing with the public that this is not the case.”

Signatories include scientists whose work originally exposed how poorly Alberta was tracking the environmental impacts of industry, especially the oilsands, as well as some who examined those monitoring methods. They include ecologist David Schindler of the University of Alberta, biologist John Smol from Queen’s and geologist Andrew Miall of the University of Toronto.

On Tuesday, Phillips announced that the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Agency would be folded up and its work brought back within government. Citing a consultant’s study, Phillips said the agency was overspending, split by bureaucratic infighting and dividing Alberta’s scarce scientific resources.

Environmental monitoring is a core function of government, she said Thursday.