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Industry, environment clash in oil sands
The Alberta government has outlined wide-ranging changes to its management of the oil sands sector with a plan that critics say has put industry ahead of the environment.
The draft Mineable Oil Sands Strategy gives the “highest priority” to mining within a single development zone for the vast northern Alberta region, rather than giving equal weight to all resources, such as forestry, rivers and wildlife.
Energy Minister Greg Melchin said the government wants a strategy to “help coordinate development in this area.
“The proposed (strategy) will provide regulators, industry and the public with a clearer understanding of how development and land reclamation will be managed in the mineable development zone,” he said.
However, Environment Minister Guy Boutilier, whose electorate covers the oil sands region, said the plan is designed to balance economic development and environmental protection, describing the environment as “our mother ship.”
Although the plan would allow companies to reroute some tributaries of the Athabasca River, the main waterway in the region, any loss of fish habitat would have to be replaced.
A consultation process with five Athabasca Tribal Council First Nations and the public will start in January.
The need for a policy is being driven by forecasts that oil sands production could grow five-fold to 5 million barrels per day over the next 25 years. Environmental groups unhappy However, environmental groups are unhappy that the government is proposing a fundamental shift that puts oil sands development ahead of environmental concerns.
The Alberta-based Pembina Institute for Appropriate Development said the government is moving away from its past practice of striking a balance between the two and offering no compensation for degradation of the environment.
It said that until now oil sands mining has only been allowed on the condition that rivers remain intact, the integrity of watersheds is maintained and wildlife corridors are preserved.
Institute spokesman Chris Severson-Baker estimated that 725 square miles of Alberta’s boreal forest will be written off, affecting people who live, fish and hunt in the area.
He speculated that the change is prompted by conflict between the mandates of Alberta’s energy, environment and sustainable resource departments, who share responsibility for the oil sands.
Severson-Baker said it appears that energy has won the debate.
—Gary Park
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