The pace and scale of oilsands mining continues to increase in
Alberta despite a poor understanding of the environmental liabilities:
costs associated with the environmental impacts throughout the life of
a mine. In Toxic Liability, the Pembina Institute has compiled the
first public estimate of these liabilities.
Over their 30 to 50 years of operation, oilsands mines have had
significant environmental impacts, including emissions of greenhouse
gases and other pollutants, surface water withdrawals, contamination
and disruption of groundwater, toxic seepage from tailings lakes into
groundwater, habitat fragmentation and impacts on wildlife.
To mitigate some of these impacts, oilsands mining companies are
required to reclaim the land that has been disturbed during the mining
process. Companies budget to pay for reclamation, which is supposed to
occur as a company develops a mine. The cleanup bill for mines is
potentially immense.
The Government of Alberta requires all oilsands mine operators to
post a security deposit to fund reclamation in the event an operator is
unable or unwilling to pay for reclamation. However, because of the
lack of transparency about the true costs of reclamation, the public
doesn't know whether or not the current security deposits are adequate,
and based on our findings - it looks like the securities collected are
significantly inadequate, to the tune of $10 to $15 billion.
