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Disillusion over a solution to pollution in rural Alberta

Oilsands companies say carbon capture is a climate solution. Rural Albertans wonder about explosions, water and Indigenous Rights
Top of mind, under the ground
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Only a handful buildings line a wide rural street.


One of the first people we met in St. Paul, a small farming town in northeastern Alberta, laughed when she first heard we were journalists from the city. Then she leaned in. If you ask me, she said, I’m excited about the jobs

She’s not alone in enthusiasm for a massive $16-billion project, including a pipeline not far from the town.

But not everyone is so excited, photojournalist Amber Bracken told me after visiting the community last summer. In fact, in a province home to more than 400,000 kilometres of pipelines already criss-crossing under the surface, some farmers and landowners seem especially worried about this new 400-kilometre pipeline. 

That’s because this pipeline won’t carry oil and gas, but rather carbon dioxide.

The project? It’s the centerpiece of plans from the Pathways Alliance — a group of the largest oilsands companies. Pathways wants to build a carbon capture pipeline from the oilsands to a storage site in the sandstone that lies more than a kilometre under this part of the province.

Amber and I first worked together in 2018 and have travelled around Alberta, listening to people’s perspectives on oil and gas. So when we heard about the huge project in St. Paul, we jumped at the chance to visit.

A man with short salt-and-pepper hair surveys a proliferation of plants in a greenhouse.
🔗 A $16B plan to bury oilsands carbon pollution — and the rural Albertans raising the alarm

Like many of his neighbours, Amil Shapka first heard about the pipeline through the grapevine.

A land agent had been knocking on his neighbours’ doors, seeking permission for the pipeline to cross their fields, in exchange for a cheque. Shapka rented the local community hall and started making phone calls. “Farmer called farmer, neighbour called neighbour,” he says.

They feel like they’ve been kept in the dark. And they feel a little bit like guinea pigs: carbon capture of this scale is a huge and expensive endeavour — and it’s relatively new. Critics say it’s untested and unproven.

At the heart of it, there is an underlying skepticism of an expensive new technology being touted around the world as a solution to a global problem — right under the homes of people whose families have lived here for generations. 

Just yesterday, the Alberta Energy Regulator confirmed it will not require the project to undergo an environmental assessment.

Meanwhile, locals have real questions that have not yet been answered. What happens if groundwater is contaminated? What happens if the pipeline explodes? Who responds in an emergency? How will this impact Treaty Rights?

Hear from more of the project’s critics, supporters and skeptics — and let Amber’s photography transport you to a smoky and rainy September day — by checking out the full story. And if you only have a few minutes, read about five key questions residents are asking about the $16-billion plan.

Take care and keep your head out of the sandstone,

Sharon Riley
Prairies bureau chief
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🤍 Support independent journalism
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Going batty


Bats have long been associated with vampires, superstition and all things dark and creepy — but they’re amazing, actually. They provide numerous benefits to humans and environments, including as prolific pollinators and consumers of insects. Did you know a bat eats about half its weight in bugs every night?

Writer and photojournalist Quinn Bender recently got up close and personal with a team working to protect Vancouver’s bat colonies from deadly white-nose syndrome using an innovative probiotic formula they call “yogurt for bats.” 

Quinn’s photography brings this captivating, solutions-focused story to life. If you can stomach it, it’s a real Halloween treat
 

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A win for journalism innovation


We’re thrilled to share that The Narwhal has picked up a Webster Award for excellence in innovative journalism for Nourish, our series on First Nations food sovereignty. 

The Jack Webster Foundation’s annual awards celebrate the best journalism in British Columbia. It’s an honour to have this project recognized for its ambition, collaboration, creativity and deep community engagement. 

“The people in this series showed incredible generosity sharing their stories,” Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood, who led the reporting, said. “These are not The Narwhal’s stories, they belong to sovereign First Nations and we were fortunate to be trusted to share them.”

Find Steph’s reporting and more nourishing stories over here.


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This week in The Narwhal

Clouds of dust rise around a small group of bison in a grassy meadow against a sunset scene
Travelling the Buffalo road: Indigenous nations are rematriating bison to the prairies
By Kayla MacInnis
Millions of bison once roamed the grasslands, until colonialism nearly wiped them out. Now, Indigenous people are bringing them back and restoring balance to their homelands.

READ MORE
A lone fish jumps up over a waterfall
Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs file new legal challenge against Ksi Lisims LNG project
By Matt Simmons
READ MORE
Environment minister Steven Guilbeault, in winter clothes, sits on a stoop.
Canada’s environment minister didn’t make it to the UN nature summit. He blames the opposition
By Ainslie Cruickshank
READ MORE
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The BC NDP is back in power. Will anything change for the environment?
By Shannon Waters
READ MORE
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What the Saskatchewan election results mean for energy and the environment
By Drew Anderson
READ MORE

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What we’re reading


The heap leach pad at Yukon Gold’s Eagle mine collapsed in August, eventually leaving taxpayers on the hook for the cleanup. For The Walrus, Rhiannon Russell reports on the demise of the former darling of Yukon mining

As mills shutter, workers are banding together to fight for their jobs and B.C.’s forestry industry, Zoë Yunker reports in The Tyee.

A new review of protections for species at risk in Canada has found that current regulations are fragmented, inconsistent and inadequate. Ivan Semeniuk has that story in The Globe and Mail (paywalled).

Stella, the newest member of the Narwhal pod (daughter to on-leave B.C. bureau lead Lindsay Sample) is very excited to experience the magic of her first Halloween. Grab a sweet treat and share the love by letting your favourite people know about The Narwhal’s delicious newsletters!
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