The stigma of “dirty oil” has tainted the lustrous financial forecasts of Alberta’s Oilsands. Developers and producers who’ve pulled through the financial crash are ramping up production and preparing for an increase in global demand for oil, but not without resistance from a multiplicity of sources.
Last fall, following the impromptu visit of Hollywood director, James Cameron (an Alberta native), Canadian Business magazine painted a very ugly portrait of the harsh implications the toxic tailing ponds have inflicted on the environment and its residents. The article refers to the Oilsands as a potential “environmental disaster.”
The state of California abides by a low-carbon fuel standard that bans Alberta oilsands as a source for their oil needs, thereby threatening Alberta's confidence as it forecasts visions of serving global demands for oil. Michael McCullough, the author of this article, speaks directly to Suncor’s minimal efforts to bandage the festering lesions the toxic tailing ponds have been oozing into the environment since 1967. The media has grasped the throat of the oilsands industry and has since refused to let go, continuing to demand change and disclosure.
Resistance to Oilsands Dirty Oil
The First Nations who reside north of Edmonton have recently threatened legal action against the Canadian Government who, according to a CBC report has “neglect(ed) to consult with (the residents) in regards to the landuse framework plan”. Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations band is very upset with the draft the Province of Alberta released that places business development above conservation.
According to Greenpeace activist, Christy Ferguson, “Governments and companies are working hard to downplay the impacts of tar sands operations …they don’t even know the full extent of the problem.
"What’s worse,” she states “(is) they’re doing nothing to find out.”
Suncor’s Tar Island (aka: “Pond 1”), a 22-hectare toxic tailings pond was reclaimed in September of 2010 after 40 years. It was rumored to have been drained and the tailings transferred from its original location in order to establish a swifter path to become what Suncor’s website claims is “a small wetland capable of supporting a variety of plants and wildlife” —the first since Suncor began bitumen extraction in 1967.
Oilsands Technology
The technology, however, is not being left entirely in the hands of the major producers. Ed Stelmach, Alberta’s Premier, spoke publicly in the same year Suncor reclaimed its first pond that entrepreneurs and small businesses are also working hard towards a sustainable solution to the environmental concerns being raised.
There are entrepreneurs who have been subscribing to Stelmach's hope for a cleaner environment. The government has programs in place to enhance these efforts and has great hopes for their successes.
Future of Alberta Oilsands
The major producers in the oilsands continue to vie strong and stay on course in the name of progress and global demand. However, it is increasingly apparent that residents, technologists, conservationists and the media are skeptical of the claims made to contend with the concerns of the industry’s harmful effects of the oilsands toxic tailings.
Sources:
- Canada Business Magazine. "The Green Future of the Oilsands." October 25, 2010.
- The Ecologist
- " Bitumen and Biocarbon Land Use Conversions and Loss of Biological Carbon Due to Bitumen Operations in the Boreal Forests of Alberta, Canada " (Peter Lee and Ryan Cheng). 2009.
- CBC Canada News. "First Nations pan Athabasca land-use plan" June 7, 2011.
- Suncor
Join the Conversation