OIl Sands Today
Does our demand for oil harm or help our fellow Canadians?
Oil Sands Location and economy
The oil sands are the raw material that contains oil, as the name implies. With water Canada is able to use the oil within to help our country grow, whether it’s used for transportation or used for industrial items .The Oil sands are located in three areas within Alberta, Canada and some parts of Saskatchewan. Athabasca, Peace River and Cold Lake are the areas that the oil sands reside in
Near Fort McMurray, oil sands are the closest to the surface
Making the area most destined for oil.
Oil Sands economic problem.
Water is one problem that mostly arises when talking about the oil sands. Most of the clean water used to mine the oil sand is not reused and is instead put into pits, which sometimes pool over and spill into rivers. Mining takes up to 2.7 barrels of water to mine out 1 barsuit. Seeing 2011's statistics of how much water was used for mining shows a high amount, 138 million cubic meters was used in mining. Estimations show that even more water will be abused to make oil, 4,861,389 barrels or 772,900 cubic meters added to the 2011 yearly amount. That much water is equivalent to filling. This could mean that clean water will become even more scarce.
Wild life is also becoming affected from the unclean water that is being spilled into lakes and rivers. Fish and Carrboro were tested to have tumors growing on them as well as high levels of mercury in their blood. With the animals becoming sick and having cancerous cells within them, this is causing many people to become sick with different types of cancer, some incurable.