Industry Cash Delays Oilsands Environmental Management Agency Closure One Month
The impending closure of a key multi-stakeholder group that provides advice to Alberta and the...
The Alberta oilsands are the world’s third-largest deposit of oil, containing an estimated 165 billion barrels of oil. The oilsands are comprised of high-carbon bitumen deposits. Bitumen requires extraction from underneath the boreal forest, either through mining or the drilling of steam injected wells, processing to rid the oil of sand and other contaminants and dilution with chemicals to flow through pipes.
Extraction of bitumen from the oilsands is a subject of ongoing controversy in Canada. The oilsands are one of the world’s most carbon-intensive forms of oil and have a very low return on invested energy. For many years, the oilsands have represented Canada’s fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions.
Producing oilsands also generates a tremendous amount of contaminated water waste, called “tailings.” The tailings ponds from the Alberta oilsands cover about 220 square kilometres and hold an estimated 1.2 trillion litres of contaminated water that’s been used in bitumen mining.
Oilsands deposits are also located on the traditional territory of numerous First Nations that are opposed to the pace and scale of development. The oilsands cover an area of approximately 142,200 square kilometres in the Athabasca, Cold Lake and Peace River areas in northern Alberta. About three per cent of the oilsands are accessible via mining. The majority must be developed via in-situ methods, which currently increases the product’s overall emissions profile.
Oilsands operations have contributed to a massive disturbance of Alberta’s boreal forest, through the construction of roads, refineries, processing plants, seismic lines and other oil and gas infrastructure. The result is a heavily polluted landscape, fears of water and wildlife contamination and increasing pressure on at risk species such as the boreal caribou.
For weekly updates on our reporting, sign up for The Narwhal’s newsletter.
The impending closure of a key multi-stakeholder group that provides advice to Alberta and the...
Recent revelations that Canada’s top spy watchdog Chuck Strahl is also a paid lobbyist for...
It's a phrase that has wafted up from the oil sands to the airwaves. It...
A joint task force announced by B.C. and Alberta premiers Christy Clark and Alison Redford...
That revolving door just keeps on turning. As the Vancouver Observer recently reported, Canada’s spy...
Mercury levels have risen to 16 times the regional "background" levels in an area around...
The city of South Portland, Maine banned the export of oilsands crude from local port...
A groundbreaking report shows that Quebec cannot afford to be green-lighting fossil fuel projects, such...
Kinder Morgan officially submitted a 15,000-page application for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to the...
Get the inside scoop on The Narwhal’s environment and climate reporting by signing up for our free newsletter. On Sunday, across most of Canada, the...
Continue reading