Summary
Alberta's oilsands produce over 1.8 billion liters of toxic wastewater daily. Known as tailings, this wastewater is left after bitumen, which is used to make conventional crude oil, is separated from the sand on top of it. Tailings have been stored in open-air lakes for decades. However, there has been no attempt in the past to empty the lakes or the land reclaimed. Several plans to reclaim the ponds have been discussed, including the creation of End Pit Lakes, using tailing thickeners, cycloning or centrifugation. Some of the toxic tailings have leaked into the Athabasca River. The health implications of this pollution are vast. Research has shown that there are elevated rates of cancers among the citizens of Fort Chipewyan, a small village of 1,200 downstream from the oilsands. The residents, which rely on fish as a major food resource, have noticed their fish are deformed with crooked tails, bulging eyes, skin tumors and humpbacks. Although the government has never had formal regulations on tailings management of enforcement mechanisms, the concern of initiating these regulations have been increasing.
Connection: Third Part Effects
Tailings causing extremely high levels of mercury and arsenic in water have lead to the increased rate of cancer to residents of Fort Chipewyan. This is an example of negative third party effects. As a result of the free-market system and the lack of government regulation in the past, the oil industry has ignored the need to keep this toxic water under control. Furthermore, placing a system to capture the toxins would cost a lot of money. Recently, Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board released a policy which required the oil industry to submit its plans for the construction and operation of tailings ponds. Companies may be forced to invest a significant sum of money in controlling tailings. This may be further reflected in the price of crude oil from Alberta in future months.
Reflection
In my opinion, Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board has been slow in its decision to regulate the tailings created by the crude oil industry. Since crude oil is a source of Alberta’s major revenue, it would be logical to ensure that no harm is done to the environment in obtaining it. The lives of many people have been put at risk because Fort Chipewyan’s most dominant food resource has been damaged. The fish can no longer be consumed. The economy of this small village can easily fail simply because of the ignorance of the oil industry. The Energy Resources Conservation Board as well as the oil industry must act quickly to repair the crisis that has emerged.
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