Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Understanding ‘water’
- Part II Water resources planning and management
- Part III Water resources planning and management: case studies
- III. 1 Water and waste water treatment
- III. 2 Agricultural water use
- III. 3 Urban water supply and management
- III. 4 Aquatic ecosystems
- III. 5 Industrial and mining water use
- 26 Water issues in Canada's tar sands
- 27 Science, governance and environmental impacts of mines in developing countries: lessons from Ok Tedi in Papua New Guinea
- III. 6 Rural and remote communities
- III. 7 Water infrastructure design and operation
- III. 8 Managing water across borders
- III. 9 Market mechanisms in water management
- Contributors
- Index
- References
26 - Water issues in Canada's tar sands
from III. 5 - Industrial and mining water use
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2011
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Part I Understanding ‘water’
- Part II Water resources planning and management
- Part III Water resources planning and management: case studies
- III. 1 Water and waste water treatment
- III. 2 Agricultural water use
- III. 3 Urban water supply and management
- III. 4 Aquatic ecosystems
- III. 5 Industrial and mining water use
- 26 Water issues in Canada's tar sands
- 27 Science, governance and environmental impacts of mines in developing countries: lessons from Ok Tedi in Papua New Guinea
- III. 6 Rural and remote communities
- III. 7 Water infrastructure design and operation
- III. 8 Managing water across borders
- III. 9 Market mechanisms in water management
- Contributors
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
The world's demand for fossil fuels and the concurrent depletion of conventional sweet, light crude oil and natural gas have created a growing market for unconventional energy sources such as coal-bed methane, heavy oil, and bitumen. Exploitation of bitumen resources in Canada carries high environmental and social costs. The National Energy Board (2004) concluded that the principal threat posed by tailings ponds – the migration of pollutants to groundwater, soil, and surface water – is daunting. In a recent update, this concern had inexplicably been deleted (National Energy Board, 2006). Industrial water removals from the lower Athabasca River are similarly a cause for concern, especially in light of a decades-long trend of declining discharge.
The Athabasca tar sands industrial footprint as of spring 2008 was 65 040 ha, composed of 12 058 ha of tailings ponds and 52 982 ha of pits, facilities, and infrastructure. By proportion of the footprint, the largest losses have been to coniferous forest (36.0%) and deciduous forest (24.6%). Between 1992 and 2008, the extent of tailings ponds grew by 422%, while the extent of mine pits, facilities, and infrastructure grew by 383% (Timoney and Lee, 2009). As of spring 2008, the areal extent of tailings ponds exceeded that of natural water bodies (8613 ha) by 40% in the Athabasca tar sands region.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Water Resources Planning and Management , pp. 563 - 582Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011
References
and (1980). Deposition of atmospheric pollutants as measured by lichen element content in the Athabasca oil sands area. Canadian Journal of Botany, 58, 2323–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
. (2004). Annual Report 2003–04. A year in review. URL: www.aeri.ab.ca/sec/new_res/docs/AERI_Annual_Report_2003–04.pdf. Accessed 6 November 2007.
(2009). Oil Sands. URL: www.energy.alberta.ca/OurBusiness/oilsands.asp. Accessed 21 March 2009.
(2006). Cold Lake–Beaver River Surface Water Quantity and Aquatic Resources. State of the Basin Report. SW_Quantity_and_Aqua_2006.pdf. Edmonton: Alberta Environment.Google Scholar
(2007a). Current and Future Water Use in Alberta. WFL-current_future_water_use-full.pdf. Edmonton: Alberta Environment.Google Scholar
(2007b). Water Management Framework: Instream Flow Needs and Water Management System for the Lower Athabasca River. DFO Phase 1 Framework (2007).pdf. Edmonton: Alberta Environment.Google Scholar
(2007c). Alberta Air Emissions Trends and Projections. air_emissions_trends-projections.pdf. Edmonton: Alberta Environment.Google Scholar
(2008). Correspondence to Syncrude Canada Ltd. (9 June 2008), re: 2007 Annual Groundwater Monitoring Report (Mildred Lake site). Edmonton: Alberta Environment.Google Scholar
(2009). Hydrogen sulphide levels. URL: www3.gov.ab.ca/env/soe/air_indicators/8_hydrogensulphide.html. Last accessed 1 March 2009.
(2008). Provincial Court Records from Judge Michael Horrocks' Decision, R. v. Suncor Inc., 1983. Edmonton: Alberta Environmental Law Centre.Google Scholar
(2006). Fort Chipewyan Health Data Analysis. Fort Chipewyan presentation25july2006(2).ppt. Edmonton: Alberta Health and Wellness.Google Scholar
(2009). Bitumen and Heavy Oil: Recovery Technologies. URL: www.arc.ab.ca/areas-of-focus/bitumen-and-heavy-oil/recovery-technologies/. Accessed 15 February 2009.
, and (2004). Oil Sands Regional Aquatic Monitoring Program (RAMP), Scientific Peer Review of the Five Year Report (1997–2001). RAMP 04 review.pdf. Ft. McMurray: RAMP Steering Committee.Google Scholar
, and (2001). Flow systems in the Mannville Group in the east-central Athabasca area and implications for steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) operations for in situ bitumen production. Bulletin of Canadian Petroleum Geology, 49 (3), 376–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1987). Organizations and systematic distortion of information. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering, 113 (4), 360–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and (2004). Depositional Gradients of Atmospheric Pollutants in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region, Canada: An Analysis of Lichen Tissue and Lichen Communities. Lichen Indicator Pilot Program 2002–2003. Final report. 2002LichenPilotFinal.pdf. Ft. McMurray: Wood Buffalo Environmental Association.Google Scholar
, and (1996). Depositional History of Sediments in Lake Athabasca: Geochronology, Bulk Parameters, Contaminants and Biogeochemical Markers. Project Report No. 72. Edmonton: Northern River Basins Study.Google Scholar
(2009). The Sustainable Management of Groundwater in Canada. The Expert Panel on Groundwater. Ottawa: Council of Canadian Academies.Google Scholar
(2005). Health Risk Literature Review: Current Approaches and Data used to Assess Health Risks Associated with Emissions in the Oil Sands Region. Ft. McMurray: CEMA.Google Scholar
(2009). Cancer Incidence in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta 1995–2006. URL: www.albertahealthservices.ca/pdf/newsreleases/20090202_fort_chipewyan_study.pdf. Accessed 3 February 2009.
, and (2006). CYP1A induction and blue sac disease in early life stages of white suckers (Catostomus commersoni) exposed to oil sands. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health A, 69, 967–94.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, and (2007). The relationships among CYP1A induction, toxicity and eye pathology in early life stages of fish exposed to oil sands. Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health A, 70, 1542–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
(2007). Proceedings of the National Peer Review of the Lower Athabasca River Instream Flow Assessment and Water Management Framework. Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, Proceedings Series 2007/032. Winnipeg: DFO.Google Scholar
(2008). The Tar Sands' Leaking Legacy. URL: www.environmentaldefence.ca/reports/pdf/TailingsReport_FinalDec98.pdf. Accessed 5 January 2009.
(1999). The Class V Underground Injection Control Study, Volume 13, In Situ Fossil Fuel Recovery Wells. URL: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/uic/class5/pdf/study_uic-class5_classvstudy_volume13-in-situfossilfuelrecovery.pdf. Last accessed 7 May 2009.
, , et al. (2005). Co-mutagenic activity of arsenic and benzo[a]pyrene in mouse skin. Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology Environmental Mutagenesis, 588, 35–46.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, and (2002). Preboreal oscillation caused by a glacial Lake Agassiz flood. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21, 873–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (2005). Mercury concentrations in fish from forest harvesting and fire-impacted Canadian boreal lakes compared using stable isotopes of nitrogen. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 24, 685–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
(2008). The Last Great Intact Forests of Canada. Atlas of Alberta. AB-atlas-2–2008–12–19_LR_review.pdf. Edmonton: Global Forest Watch.Google Scholar
(2003). Oil Sands Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP) five year report. May 2003. Calgary: RAMP Steering Committee.Google Scholar
(2003). The lack of a specific association between arsenic in drinking water and hepatocellular carcinoma. Journal of Hepatology, 39, 383–88.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, , , and (1970). Alberta Government Committee Report on Great Canadian Oil Sands Oil Spill to Athabasca River, June 6, 1970. Edmonton: Alberta Environment.Google Scholar
, and (2000). Methanogens and sulphate-reducing bacteria in oil sands fine tailings waste. Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 46, 927–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2001). Investigation of groundwater flow within an oil sand tailings impoundment and environmental implications. Unpublished MSc thesis. Waterloo: University of Waterloo.
(1970). A Biological Investigation of the Athabasca River Oil Spill. Report to the Conservation Fraternity of Alberta. Edmonton: Alberta Environment.Google Scholar
and (1977). Surficial Geology of Potential Mining Areas in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region. Open File Report 1977–04. Edmonton: Alberta Geological Survey.Google Scholar
(2005). Ecological Risk Assessment Problem Formulation and Screening Assessment, Ponds 1/1A Operations Node. Ft. McMurray: Suncor Energy Inc.Google Scholar
, , (2005). Regional Groundwater Quality Appraisal, Cold Lake–Beaver River Drainage Basin, Alberta. EUB/AGS Special Report 73, Edmonton: Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and Alberta Geological Survey.Google Scholar
, and (1993). Uncertainty, resource exploitation, and conservation: lessons from history. Science, 260, 17, 36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, , , and (2002). Arsenic co-exposure potentiates benzo(a)pyrene genotoxicity. Mutation Research, 517, 101–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
(2008). Primary Liver Cancers (Other). URL: www.merck.com/mmhe/sec10/ch139/ch139e.html. Accessed 12 September 2008.
, and (2007). Heavy Oil and Natural Bitumen Resources in Geological Basins of the World. US Geological Survey, Open-file report 2007–1084. URL: pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1084/OF2007–1084v1.pdf. Accessed 10 February 2009.
(2001). Geotechnics and mine waste management – update. Seminar on Safe Tailings Dam Constructions, September 20–21, 2001. Gällivare, Sweden: Swedish Mining Assoc and the European Commission, pp. 54–67.Google Scholar
, and (2003). Establishing the causal relationship between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure and hepatic neoplasms and neoplasia-related liver lesions in English Sole (Pleuronectes vetulus). Human Ecological Risk Assessment, 9, 67–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(2004). Canada's Oil Sands, Opportunities and Challenges to 2015. URL: www.neb.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rnrgynfmtn/nrgyrprt/lsnd/pprtntsndchllngs20152004/pprtntsndchllngs20152004-eng.pdf. Accessed 15 January 2007.
(2006). Canada's Oil Sands, Opportunities and Challenges to 2015: An update. URL: www.neb.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rnrgynfmtn/nrgyrprt/lsnd/pprtntsndchllngs20152006/pprtntsndchllngs20152006-eng.pdf. Accessed 4 February 2009.
(2006). Natural Regions and Subregions of Alberta, compiled by and . Edmonton: Govt. of Alberta.Google Scholar
(2009). Annual Air Releases of Criteria Air Contaminants (for 2007). URL: www.ec.gc.ca/pdb/npri/npri_home_e.cfm. Accessed 10 February 2009.
(1999). Arsenic in Groundwater in the Cold Lake Area. Sessional Paper 560/99. Edmonton: Alberta Legislature.Google Scholar
, and (1980). Hydrogeology of the Bitumount–Namur Lake Area, Alberta. Earth Sciences Report 78–6. Edmonton: Alberta Research Council.Google Scholar
, and (1996). Pollutant Deposition Impacts on Lichens, Mosses, Wood and Soil in the Athabasca Oil Sands Area. Ft. McMurray: Syncrude Canada Ltd.Google Scholar
(2008). Fact or Fiction? Oil Sands Reclamation. URL: pubs.pembina.org/reports/Fact_or_Fiction-report.pdf. Accessed 15 November 2008.
, , (2008). Declining summer flows of Rocky Mountain rivers: changing seasonal hydrology and probable impacts on floodplain forests. Journal of Hydrology, 349, 397–410.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and (2008). Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and airborne fine particulate matter: a case-crossover analysis of emergency medical services data in Indianapolis, Indiana. Environmental Health Perspectives, 116, 631–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
and (2003). Health Effects of Hydrogen Sulphide: Knowledge Gaps. Edmonton: Alberta Environment.Google Scholar
and (1974). Waterfowl Investigations in the Athabasca Tar Sands Area. Ottawa: Canadian Wildlife Service.Google Scholar
and (2006). An impending water crisis in Canada's western prairie provinces. Proceedings National Academy of Sciences, 103 (19), 7210–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
, and (2007). Section 1: Future water flows and human withdrawals in the Athabasca River. In Running out of Steam? Oil Sands Development and Water Use in the Athabasca River-Watershed: Science and Market Based Solutions, May 2007. Environmental Research and Studies Centre. Edmonton: University of Alberta, pp. 1–38.Google Scholar
and (2006). Death by a Thousand Cuts: Impacts of In Situ Oil Sands Development on Alberta's Boreal Forest. URL: pubs.pembina.org/reports/1000-cuts.pdf. Accessed 21 January 2008.
(undated). Canada's Oil Sands Resources and Its Future Impact on Global Oil Supply. Unpublished MSc thesis, Uppsala University, Sweden. URL: www.peakoil.net/uhdsg/OilSandCanada.pdf. Accessed 3 March 2009.
, and (2000). Occurrence of Arsenic in Groundwater near Cold Lake, Alberta. Edmonton: Alberta Environment.Google Scholar
(1982a). ‘Suncor lawyer challenges his client's records.’ The Edmonton Journal, 19 October 1982. Edmonton: Alberta Environmental Law Centre.Google Scholar
(1982b). ‘Possible impact of Suncor spills cited.’ The Edmonton Journal, 23 October 1982. Edmonton: Alberta Environmental Law Centre.Google Scholar
and (2007). Historic analysis of stream flow on the Athabasca River. Annual Meeting, Western Division of the Canadian Association of Geographers, March 8–10, 2007. Program and Abstract Volume, pp. 42– 43. URL: http://cgrg.geog.uvic.ca/abstracts/StuppleHistoricThe.html. Accessed 24 April 2009.
(2008a). Fort Chipewyan Community Meeting, May 6, 2008. Ft Chip Community Meeting April 25 – final.ppt. Ft. McMurray: Suncor Energy Inc.
(2007). 2006 Groundwater Monitoring Report, Syncrude Canada Limited Aurora. Ft. McMurray: Syncrude Canada Ltd.Google Scholar
, , and (2003a). Physiological and biochemical responses of Ontario slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) to sediment from the Athabasca oil sands area. Water Quality Research Journal of Canada, 38, 361–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, , and (2003b). Using reproductive endpoints in small forage fish species to evaluate the effects of Athabasca oil sands activities. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 11, 2775–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
and (2009). Does the Alberta tar sands industry pollute? The scientific evidence. The Open Conservation Biology Journal, 3, 65–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, and (2001). Mercury in the aquatic environment: a review of factors affecting methylation. Critical Reviews Environmental Science and Technology, 31, 241–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
(1978). ‘Diversity and Vitality of 10 Epiphytic Lichens Measured over Standardized Sections of Jack Pine, White Spruce and Black Spruce within an 11 Kilometer Radius from the Great Canadian Oil Sands Limited Complex in July 1977.’ Ft. McMurray: Great Canadian Oil Sands Ltd.