EJQ2 - Fall 2024 - Journal - Page 36
OIL SANDS TAILINGS PONDS really aren’t ponds at all—they’re much larger.
Altogether, they’re roughly 2.6 times the size of Vancouver and hold 1.4 trillion
litres of toxic 昀氀uid, according to Environmental Defence Canada. Those numbers—and the impacts of them—are di昀케cult to comprehend, so it’s useful to
provide some context: A single lake can be up to eight kilometres long and four
kilometres wide, with risks to wildlife and nearby communities. And when tailings enter the atmosphere, solvent turns into volatile, carcinogenic compounds
known to cause respiratory illness. There are also high sources of methane
emissions, but e昀昀orts to remediate and reclaim the oil sands are not keeping
pace with Canada’s other sustainability priorities.
Despite concerted e昀昀orts by the federal government, provincial governments
and the industry to address the oil sands, a very minimal amount of the total
land disturbed by oil sands have been reclaimed so far (some say less than 0.1
per cent). With ongoing criticism that the Alberta Energy Regulator is failing
to do its job by downplaying the oil and gas industry’s liabilities, questions and
concerns have long been left unanswered.
CVW™ TAILINGS DISTILLATION UNIT AT
CANMETENERGY’S FROTH TREATMENT
CUTLINE
PILOT PLANT IN DEVON, AB
Complicated political issues
The oil sands are not a black and white issue. Read the comments section of almost any news video reporting on the environmental impacts of the oil sands
E N V I RON M E N T J OURN A L QUA RT E RLY RE PORT • FA L L 2 02 4 • P AGE 3 6
