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ENVIRONMENT: Pembina says oil sands industry produces 1.8 billion litres a day of toxic tailings
        (AlbertaIndex, May 30, Friday) --- Environmental research group Pembina Institute has launched another attack on Alberta’s oil sands industry, accusing it of spewing out a huge amount of toxic waste everyday while failing to rehabilitate polluted land.
        In a 85-page report entitled Fact or Fiction: Oil Sands Reclamation, Pembina’s researchers said they found woefully inadequate reclamation progress, astonishing rates of toxic tailings creation and no proven way to clean them up.

The researchers also claimed that the security deposits made by companies to guarantee reclamation may be inadequate, forcing Canadians to foot the bill for reclaiming vast areas of mined and disturbed boreal forest.

The report said that after 41 years of oil sands mining operations in northern Alberta only 0.2% or one square kilometer of disturbed land is certified as reclaimed.

“Canadians will be shocked to learn how little of the mined land is reclaimed, and how fast oil sands companies are releasing toxic tailings into the environment. There is a disconnect between public perceptions of oil sands reclamation and what is truly happening on the ground,” said Jennifer Grant, Policy Analyst with the Pembina Institute and senior author of the report. “This report helps differentiate between the facts and fiction of oil sands reclamation.”

Oil sands mining is transforming northeastern Alberta. By the end of 2007, oil sands companies had cleared or mined more than 470 square kilometres of boreal forest. More than 3,000 sq km of boreal forest is already leased for mine development.
The report said that toxic tailings lakes, already 50 sq km in size, are projected to grow to 220 sq km — an area five times the size of Sylvan Lake, Alberta.

“When hundreds of waterfowl died in a toxic oil sands tailings lake a few weeks ago, government and industry ignored the real issue: the daily production of 1.8 billion litres of toxic tailings waste,” said Simon Dyer, Oil Sands Program Director at the Pembina Institute and report co-author. “Industry has never demonstrated it is able to clean up tailings lakes.”

Pembina said the report’s recommendations are designed to help protect Albertans and potentially all Canadians from the economic and environmental liabilities being created by uncertain and non-transparent oil sands reclamation practices.

These recommendations include prohibiting the creation of toxic liquid tailings, ensuring adequate financial bonding of the oil sands industry and setting maximum mine disturbance caps tied to on-the-ground reclamation performance.

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