The Alberta Government recently approved applications by Fort Hills and Syncrude to build more tailings ponds to deal with the waste from their operations in the north of the province.
For those who don’t know what tailings ponds are, they contain the waste, or “tailings” from the upgrading of bitumen from the oilsands (a project that in and of itself has been nothing but trouble for the province and Canada as a whole). These tailings contain water, sand, silt, clay and residual bitumen, are highly toxic and pose a serious threat to wildlife and the greater environment, as they are too toxic to be returned to the water system.
The Energy Resource Conservation Board in Alberta ordered companies operating in the oilsands to clean up their tailings and keep the regulator updated with their progress, in light of a plan announced to have the land in a state where it can be reclaimed within 5 years of when tailings stop being deposited and other cleanup to occur over the next few years.
Despite this, there were two applications approved today that met the “spirit” of the plans.
I’m sorry, but the “spirit” isn’t quite good enough. These ponds and the larger oilsands program have been nothing but a black eye to my country, my home province and even my hometown.
I’m frankly tired of this. I’m proud to be a born and raised Albertan, but this program has been nothing but an embarrassment to the people of this province, never mind that critics always seem to be considered misinformed or crazy, most recently James Cameron, best known for directing the smash hit film Avatar was essentially told he was misinformed and was invited by our Premier, Ed Stelmach, to go on a tour of the oilsands and canoe down the Athabasca River, with the intent of showing him what the oilsands are all about.
You can put a bow on a turd, but at the end of the day, it smells just as bad.
