Making global oil sands pitch

The Canadian government is ready to spend C$24 million over the next two years making a global case for the Alberta oil sands.

The campaign will lobby political and business leaders and use Twitter and roadside billboards to counter what the government calls “intense and sustained public relations” efforts, notably in California and the European Union, to put a stop to oil sands development.

But the push is being launched against the latest setback for the industry — an Environment Canada study that has found bird eggs downstream of the oil sands contain rising traces of mercury, with some above levels considered dangerous.

It coincides with a growing push by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to get U.S. approval for Keystone XL by convincing President Barack Obama and Washington lawmakers that the oil sands are a safe and secure source of energy.

Although the study did not directly tie the mercury levels to the oil sands, it is the third peer-reviewed study since 2010 to show those levels are rising in northern Alberta’s ecosystem.

Canada signed an international treaty earlier in October pledging to reduce mercury emissions, which have been linked to damage to the brain, spinal cord, kidneys, liver and a developing fetus.

Craig Herbert, a research scientist and the study’s lead author, said an oil sands link, while not proved definitely, is “one possibility,” although others could include coal-fired power plants in Asia which have been identified as an “important source of gaseous elemental mercury in North America.”

The study was produced through the Joint Oil Sands Monitoring, JOSM, program, a federal-provincial initiative launched in early 2012.

The results were shared with residents near the oil sands, who have blamed rising cancer rates and defects in fish on contamination of their atmosphere and water supplies.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, while declining to comment on the study, said it supports increased monitoring that might “evaluate the significance of any trends and to conclusively indentify sources.”

CAPP President David Collyer has been the only industry participant in negotiating the terms of the JOSM program to establish a more robust system to monitor air, water, wildlife and land quality around the oil sands region.

—Gary Park