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River Supplying Water To Alberta Oil Sands Operations At Risk From Drought
A new study casts doubt on the long-term ability of the Athabasca River to supply the water Alberta’s oil sands industry relies on.
Water is allocated to oil sands operations based on river flow data collected since the 1950s, but that doesn’t necessarily represent an accurate assessment of the Athabasca River’s flow variability over the longer term, according to a report published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Development of Alberta’s oil sands, the world’s third-largest crude oil reserve at an estimated 168 billion barrels, uses a lot of fresh water — more than 3 barrels of water for every barrel of oil produced. Currently, the oil sands industry is allocated 4.4% of the mean annual flow of the Athabasca River to meet that demand. In 2010, the oil and gas industry accounted for 74.5 percent of total surface water allocations in the Athabasca River Basin, the report says.
That allocation takes into account seasonal fluctuation, but not long-term climatic variability and change, the authors of the report write — even though the region has a history of droughts and future droughts are likely, suggesting the industry’s water use might be unsustainable.
Syncrude’s Mildred Lake oil sands operation in Alberta, Canada. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Researchers from the University of Regina and the University of Western Ontario, both in Canada, analyzed the measured river flow record for the Athabasca River Basin while accounting for the effects of climate oscillations that can confound attempts to spot long-term trends, like the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, the Pacific North American mode and El Niño.
Their analysis revealed declining flows throughout the river basin, which is consistent with the record of regional warming and the resulting loss of glacier ice and snowpack at high elevations in the Rocky Mountains, the origin of much of the Athabasca’s water.
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Explosion At Syncrude’s Mildred Lake Site, All Workers Are Safe
Explosion At Syncrude’s Mildred Lake Site, All Workers Are Safe
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — An explosion at a Syncrude oilsands processing site near Fort McMurray has interrupted operations at the facility.
Ryan Bartlett with the Alberta Energy Regulator says the blast happened early Saturday morning at Syncrude’s Mildred Lake site.
Bartlett says in an email that the company reports that all workers are safe, no product has been released and no offsite odours have been detected.
Syncrude spokesman Will Gibson says a fire broke out at the Mildred Lake Base Plant’s upgrading complex and was extinguished by Syncrude firefighters.
Gibson says there’s no word on what caused the incident, nor is there an estimate on how much damage has been done.
He says only Syncrude employees are being allowed onto the base plant site on Saturday, and the company is asking its contractors to be patient while it responds to the incident.
“Part of that response will be a thorough investigation and we will release further information when it’s available. The safety of the people at our site is our top priority,” Gibson said.
Bartlett said in his email that there have been no impacts to wildlife or water bodies.
Gibson said air quality at the site is monitored carefully and that there haven’t been any concerns.
He said production has been affected but that it’s too soon to say how seriously. Such information, he said would come from Syncrude’s owners.
“It’s too soon to tell how this is going to impact our production,” Gibson said. “Other parts of our operation are continuing. It’s a very big site up here.”
Syncrude bird deaths, Nexen pipeline spill show oilsands’ degradation of ecosystem: First Nation
‘Something is seriously wrong,’ says Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation
The recent bird deaths at a Syncrude oilsands facility in northern Alberta along with last month’s Nexen Energy pipeline spill — one of the biggest in the province’s history — show the need for better oversight, a local First Nation says.
“In less than one month, we have seen two major events that clearly demonstrate that something is seriously wrong,” said Allan Adam, chief of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN), in a news release. “These incidents, and the countless more seen in recent past, are contributing to the degradation of the local ecosystems and the treaty and aboriginal rights of nations in the region.”
Alberta’s energy regulator said 30 blue herons died earlier this week at the Mildred Lake Facility north of Fort McMurray, Alta. An investigation into what caused the birds to die is still underway.
Bob Curran, a spokesman for the agency, says a Syncrude worker found one of the heron Wednesday. The animal was alive but had to be euthanized. After the company searched the area, they found the rest of the birds dead in a run-off pond.
“We have seen irreparable damages to the environment and now death of a species that is listed with special concern,” said Adam.
Adam is correct that the fannini subspecies of the great blue heron is listed as a species of “special concern” under Canada’s Species at Risk Act, but they mostly reside on the B.C. coast. According to the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s Hinterland Who’s Who website, the overall great blue heron population is healthy, and scientists estimate there are tens of thousands of the bird in Canada.
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