It's been a bad week for news coming out of the Alberta oilsands.

In the span of a day Environment Canada released research indicating contaminants from Alberta oilsands activity are traveling farther than previously thought and IHS CERA, a U.S.-based energy research group, released findings that Canadian oilsands release more greenhouse gases than previously thought.

According to the Edmonton Journal, federal researchers have found evidence that contaminants from Alberta's oilsands are traveling up to 100 kilometres and settling on the bottom of remote lakes.

"That means the footprint is four times bigger than we found," David Schindler, an aquatic scientist at the University of Alberta, told the Journal.

Schindler's research in 2010 found that dangerous contaminants were travelling more than 50 kilometres from projects in Northern Alberta. His team also found snow near the oilsands that had been polluted and in 2009 his team discovered a fish with a tumor that may have been linked to contamination from the oilsands, according to the CBC.

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  • Syncrude Upgrader and Oil Sands

    The refining or upgrading of the tarry bitumen which lies under the oil sands consumes far more oil and energy than conventional oil and produces almost twice as much carbon. Each barrel of oil requires 3-5 barrels of fresh water from the neighboring Athabasca River. About 90% of this is returned as toxic tailings into the vast unlined tailings ponds that dot the landscape. Syncrude alone dumps 500,000 tons of toxic tailings into just one of their tailings ponds everyday.

  • Boreal Forest and Coast Mountains / Atlin Lake, British Columbia | 2001

    This area, located in the extreme northwest of British Columbia, marks the western boundary of the Boreal region. On the border of the Yukon and Southeast Alaska, the western flank of these mountains descends into Alaska's Tongass Rainforest and British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest. Far from the oil sands, the greatest remaining coastal temperate and marine ecosystem is imminently threatened by the proposal to build a 750-mile pipeline to pump 550,000 barrels per day of oil sands crude to the coast. Once there, it would be shipped through some of the most treacherous waters, virtually assuring an ecological disaster at some point in the future.

  • Tailings Pond in Winter, Abstract #2 / Alberta Tar Sands | 2010

    Even in the extreme cold of the winter, the toxic tailings ponds do not freeze. On one particularly cold morning, the partially frozen tailings, sand, liquid tailings and oil residue, combined to produce abstractions that reminded me of a Jackson Pollock canvas.

  • Aspen and Spruce | Northern Alberta | 2001

    Photographed in late autumn in softly falling snow, a solitary spruce is set against a sea of aspen. The Boreal Forest of northern Canada is perhaps the best and largest example of a largely intact forest ecosystem. Canada's Boreal Forest alone stores an amount of carbon equal to ten times the total annual global emissions from all fossil fuel consumption.

  • Tar Sands at Night #1 | Alberta Oil Sands | 2010

    Twenty four hours a day the oil sands eats into the most carbon rich forest ecosystem on the planet. Storing almost twice as much carbon per hectare as tropical rainforests, the boreal forest is the planet's greatest terrestrial carbon storehouse. To the industry, these diverse and ecologically significant forests and wetlands are referred to as overburden, the forest to be stripped and the wetlands dredged and replaced by mines and tailings ponds so vast they can be seen from outer space.

  • Dry Tailings #2 | Alberta Tar Sands | 2010

    In an effort to deal with the problem of tailings ponds, Suncor is experimenting with dry tailings technology. This has the potential to limit, or eliminate, the need for vast tailings ponds in the future and lessen this aspect of the oil sands' impact.

  • Tailings Pond Abstract #2 | Alberta Tar Sands / 2010

    So large are the Alberta Tar Sands tailings ponds that they can be seen from space. It has been estimated by Natural Resources Canada that the industry to date has produced enough toxic waste to fill a canal 32 feet deep by 65 feet wide from Fort McMurray to Edmonton, and on to Ottawa, a distance of over 2,000 miles. In this image, the sky is reflected in the toxic and oily waste of a tailings pond.

  • Confluence of Carcajou River and Mackenzie River | Mackenzie Valley, NWT | 2005

    The Caracajou River winds back and forth creating this oxbow of wetlands as it joins the Mackenzie flowing north to the Beaufort Sea. This region, almost entirely pristine, and the third largest watershed basin in the world, will be directly impacted by the proposed Mackenzie Valley National Gas Pipeline to fuel the energy needs of the Alberta Oil Sands mega-project.

  • Black Cliff | Alberta Oil Sands | 2005

    Oil sands pit mining is done in benches or steps. These benches are each approximately 12-15 meters high. Giant shovels dig the oil sand and place it into heavy hauler trucks that range in size from 240 tons to the largest trucks, which have a 400-ton capacity.

  • Oil Sands Upgrader in Winter| Alberta Oil Sands | 2010

    The Alberta oil sands are Canada's single largest source of carbon. They produce about as much annually as the nation of Denmark. The refining of the tar-like bitumen requires more water and uses almost twice as much energy as the production of conventional oil. Particularly visible in winter, vast plumes of toxic pollution fill the skies. The oil sands are so large they create their own weather systems.

  • Boreal Forest and Wetland | Athabasca Delta Northern Alberta | 2010

    Located just 70 miles downstream from the Alberta oil sands, the Athabasca Delta is the world's largest freshwater delta. It lies at the convergence of North America's four major flyways and is a critical stopover for migrating waterfowl and considered one of the most globally significant wetlands. It is threatened both by the massive water consumption of the tar sands and its toxic tailings ponds.

  • Tar Pit #3

    This network of roads reminded me of a claw or tentacles. It represents for me the way in which the tentacles of the tar sands reach out and wreak havoc and destruction. Proposed pipelines to American Midwest, Mackenzie Valley, and through the Great Bear Rainforest will bring new threats to these regions while the pipelines fuel new markets and ensure the proposed five fold expansion of the oil sands.

Derek Muir, a senior Environment Canada scientist and authority on chemical contaminants, told the Journal that his team of researchers studied six undisturbed lakes for contaminants; five within 35 kilometres of oilsands activity and another lake 100 kilometres away. They found that contaminants found in the lake bed sediment have climbed 2 to 23 times over 1960s levels.

"To see something outside the 50-kilometre zone was a bit of a surprise," Muir told the Journal about the findings as part of the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for Oilsands Monitoring. "Having said that I have to caution it was only one lake."

Muir did note, however, that contaminants were lower than "guideline limits" in five out of the six lakes (excluding the one closest to oilsands activity) and that the contamination levels are comparable to those found in urban areas.

Edmonton-Stranthcona MLA and NDP environment critic Rachel Notley told the Journal that the provincial government needs to take action on pollution monitoring, and fast.

“What should be happening is the government is immediately imposing more aggressive standards around air quality measures and air quality control measures,” Notley said.

Notley said the Alberta government should not wait for the environmental monitoring agency promised last month, adding that she thinks it may take the province years to establish a system before putting it into action.

However, Environment and Sustainable Resource Development minister Diana McQueen says the Alberta government will take its time - anywhere from six months to two years to get the agency in place.

“The important part is that we set it up, that we get it set up right and properly,” McQueen told the Journal. “This is going to be here for the long term, just starting in the oilsands region and then across the province.

“The science advisory group will be able to look at the results and give us feedback from a science perspective and the data that’s collected.”

Alberta Environment spokesperson Erin Carrier told CBC the government takes the findings very seriously.

“We recognize that there is naturally occurring bitumen in the area. But we also recognize that with the development of oilsands in the area, that we do have to monitor,” said Carrier.

These findings are being presented to the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in Long Beach, Calif. this week.

And if that weren't enough news about pollution and contamination, Reuters is reporting that Canadian oilsands refined in the U.S. release 9 per cent more planet-warming gases than crudes processed in the U.S.

This differs from 2010 IHS CERA research that suggested Canadian crude refined in the States is only 6 per cent higher than oilsands from the U.S.

However, by analyzing data from government, industry and academic sources, IHS CREA says carbon emissions from Canadian crude remain similar to those of many other crude oils refined in the U.S., including Iraq, Venezuela and Nigeria.

“Although the numbers have shifted slightly … the relative position of the oil sands compared to all the other sources of crude hasn’t changed much,” IHS CERA director Jackie Forrest told Reuters.

The numbers aren't sitting right with environmental groups, though, many who oppose Canadian oilsands crude operations, believing that it is higher in emissions.

Bill McKibben, an author and environmental activist, told Reuters oilsands fuel is some of “the dirtiest fuel on Earth.”

The Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group, has previously said that the emissions of the Canadian oilsands refined in the U.S. are eight to 37 per cent higher than other crudes.

However, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is not worried about the higher findings.

CAPP Vice President Greg Stringham told Reuters that while he sees the average as being in a similar range to other crudes, "it does show that we need to push on the technology side to make sure that we continue to drive down to our objective to get that number smaller."

Also on HuffPost:

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  • Tailings are a waste byproduct from the oilsands extraction processes used in mining operations.Tailings consist of a mix of water, sand, silt, clay, contaminants and unrecovered hydrocarbons and are toxic. Source: Pembina Institute

  • Syncrude's Tailings Dam near Fort McMurray, Alberta is one of the largest dam in the world.

  • Duck Deaths

    There have been at least 2,150 deaths of ducks related to tailings ponds in Alberta.

  • There are currently more than 170 square kilometres of tailings ponds in Alberta. Even when tailings ponds covered 50 square kilometers they were big enough to be seen from space. Source: http://oilsands.alberta.ca/tailings.html and Pembina Institute

  • Tailings management remains one of the most difficult environmental challenges for the oil sands mining sector. Source: http://oilsands.alberta.ca/tailings.html

  • Tailings are stored indefinitely in open lakes that cover an area approximately 50 per cent larger than the city of Vancouver. Source: Pembina Institute

  • Tailings lakes increase in volume at a rate that would fill the Toronto Skydome on a daily basis. Source: Pembina Institute

  • Tailings lakes seep. The exact amount of seepage is either not known or has not been made public. Source: Pembina Institute


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  • Plains Midstream

    Little Buffalo band member Melina Laboucan-Massimo scoops up July 13, 2012 what appears to oil from the pond shoreline near the site of a 4.5 million-litre Plains Midstream pipeline leak detected April 29, 2011. Photos taken at the site and released by Greenpeace of Alberta's second-worst pipeline spill suggest at least part of the site remains heavily contaminated despite company suggestions that the cleanup is complete.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    A boat passes by a boom stretching out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    Debris pushes up against a boom as it stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    A boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir.

  • Plains Midstream

    A boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    A photographer snaps a boom stretching out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    A boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    A worker slows traffic while a boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    A no swimming sign along the banks of the Gleniffer reservoir while a boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the lake near Innisfail, Alta., Friday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    Oil from a pipeline leak coats a pond near Sundre, Alta., Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipeline leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    Oil from a pipeline leak coats a pond near Sundre, Alta., Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipeline leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    Oil from a pipeline leak coats a pond near Sundre, Alta., Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipeline leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil.

  • Plains Midstream Canada

    Tracks pass through oil on the banks of the Gleniffer reservoir after a pipeline leak near Sundre, Alta., on Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil.

  • Enbrige's Athabasca pipeline

    Approximately 1,450 barrels of oil spilled from a pumping station along Enbridge’s Athabasca pipeline in June 2012. The spill occurred approximately 24 kilometres from Elk Point, Alta., a village located 200 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.

  • Lake Wabamun

    Wreckage from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill is seen lining the shore of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues.

  • Lake Wabamun

    Wreckage and black oil from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill are seen lining the shore and waters of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues.

  • Lake Wabamun

    White absorbent boom is seen lining the shores of Lake Wabamun, Alberta, as the clean-up effort from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill continues on Monday, August 8, 2005.

  • Lake Wabamun

    Wreckage and black oil from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill are seen lining the shore and waters of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues.

  • Lake Wabamun

    Wreckage and black oil from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill are seen lining the shore and waters of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. Lake Wabamun was severely polluted when a train carrying heavy oil derailed on August 3, 2005, spilling much of it's load into the lake.

  • Lake Wabamun

    Rail cars leak bunker fuel oil, meters from summer homes bordering Lake Wabamun, after a freight train derailed, in this August 3, 2005 file photo, near the town of Wabamun, Alta. Canadian National Railway faces an environmental charge stemming from the train derailment and oil spill at a popular Alberta lake last summer.


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