CALGARY — Erin Flanagan, analyst at the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to the Government of Alberta’s new Tailings Management Framework for Mineable Oilsands:
"The Tailings Management Framework represents progress on a high-profile issue long mismanaged in Alberta’s oilsands. It provides preliminary guidance regarding the need to reduce legacy tailings on the landscape, and sets holistic targets to ensure industry achieves its closure commitments.
“Oilsands waste has been accumulating without consequence since mining first began in 1967. There are 976 billion litres of liquid tailings waste in the mineable region, and it will be decades before the economic and environmental liability to Albertans is resolved.
“For too long, Albertans have been left in the dark regarding the status of toxic tailings in the oilsands region. We urge the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) to seek participation from a broad group of stakeholders as it develops regulations and enforcement provisions to support the framework’s intent.
“The framework’s objective is encouraging — but it will only be effective if matched with clear implementation and enforcement mechanisms. The AER must set firm limits and hold industry to account for existing and future tailings waste.”
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Spokesperson:
Erin Flanagan
Analyst, Oilsands (Toronto)
587-581-1701
To arrange an interview, and other inquiries:
Kirk Heuser
Communications Lead (Calgary)
587-585-4522
Background materials
Report: Losing Ground: Why the problem with oilsands tailings keeps growing (Published Aug. 19, 2013)
AER Publication: 2012 Tailings Management Assessment Report Oil Sands Mining Industry (June 2013)
Op-ed: “Oilsands industry losing ground on tailings management” (Published in the Calgary Herald, Aug. 21, 2013)
