The Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) released a draft policy today that highlights a 40-year history of inadequate tailings management at oilsands mining operations in the boreal forest north of Fort McMurray. Since 1967, oilsands mine operators have managed their tailings — a toxic by-product of separating bitumen from mined oilsands — on a voluntary basis in the absence of specific government regulations and requirements. The ERCB's new draft directive will, for the first time, require operators to submit plans and schedules for tailings pond construction, use, operation, closure and abandonment, but it does not address the risks posed by the production of tailings waste.
"Albertans will be justifiably surprised to learn that for the past 40 years oilsands companies have been allowed to manage their tailings waste on their own accord, without any strict government regulation around benchmarks, timelines or performance standards," says Jennifer Grant, policy analyst with the Pembina Institute. "While it's encouraging that the ERCB is now moving to assume more responsibility for addressing the production of toxic tailings waste, this policy falls short of addressing the risks and uncertainties around how tailings waste will be reclaimed into something resembling a boreal forest."
Oilsands companies currently produce liquid tailings waste at a rate of 1.8 billion litres per day. Some tailings "ponds" are 13 square kilometres in size. They contain toxins that are acutely fatal to wildlife, as shown by the death of 500 ducks on one of Syncrude's tailings ponds earlier this year. Tailings ponds pose serious risks to surface and ground water quality in the surrounding area and downstream in the Athabasca River. To date, no tailings ponds have been successfully reclaimed. The oilsands industry and the Government of Alberta are relying upon technologies and approaches that have not been demonstrated or proven for this industry. Should the oilsands industry fail to reclaim these tailings lakes, Albertans could face a huge bill to contain or clean up this toxic waste.
"The ERCB's policy is a baby step. It basically brings a bit more government oversight to business as usual. What we need is a giant leap, which means implementing policies that prohibit the creation of mature fine tailings for new projects," says Simon Dyer, Oilsands Program Director at the Pembina Institute. "To protect Albertans from environmental risks and potential clean-up costs, oilsands companies need to be regulated more strictly to compel them to develop and implement solutions to these unresolved liabilities."
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For more information, contact:
Jennifer Grant
Policy Analyst
403-538-7784
Simon Dyer
Oilsands Program Director
403-322-3937
The ERCB's new draft directive can be found at www.ercb.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_0_309_266_0_43/http%3B/ercbContent/publishedcontent/publish/ercb_home/news/current_projects/tailings.aspx.
In May 2008 the Pembina Institute released Fact or Fiction — Oilsands Reclamation, a report that included recommendations for addressing the risks and uncertainties arising from the current approach to tailings management in the oilsands mining sector. It is available for download at www.pembina.org/pub/1639.