The Wood Buffalo Environmental Association has installed the first Conklin monitoring station in order to deal with in situ bitumen extraction. The station is located near Conklin, and it will continuously scan and monitor the air quality in the area looking for elements that include fine particulates, ozone, and sulphur dioxide among others. The station will also monitor the local climate and any solar radiation. The executive director for the WBEA, Kevin Percy, explained that the first discussions about an air monitoring system in the area began as far back as 2011. Percy stated “When we proposed back in 2011 to put community stations in Janvier and Conklin, we recognized there were people in those communities, and industry was continuously growing and has still been developing. This station meets is part of our commitment to JOSM and adding a community station addresses a concern from the people living so close to these developments.”

The increase with in situ bitumen extraction has caused some concerns about air quality and the impact on the environment. The Conklin monitoring station will also be checking for volatile compounds and fine particulates that include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs. These volatile compounds have been linked to cases of cancer in people and animals. The use of steam assisted gravity draining to recover bitumen is touted as less damaging, more effective, faster, and less scarring than more traditional methods like open pit mining. This method still utilizes fossil fuels though, because these fuels are used to create the steam involved.