Oil Sands Debate:
Online Resources
Should the Alberta Oil Sands be expanded?
The Alberta Government, Canadian Government, and Energy Companies are working to address the major environmental and health concerns presented by oil extraction in the Oil Sands.
Alberta Ministry of Environment
Land Reclamation
Alberta law requires any land disturbed by oil extraction to be reclaimed. The reclamation is an attempt to restore the mining site to a natural environment, through the process of planting vegetation, that can once again be self-sustaining.
Tailings Pond Management
Tailings ponds, currently covering 176 square kms, are used as a storage basin for the mixture of water, sand, oil and processing chemicals used to separate the oil from the sand/clay (Oilsandstoday.ca) Tailings ponds pose a large environmental risk to the Athabasca River Basin as toxic chemicals and heavy metals leach from tailings ponds into the natural environment. Industry is working on reducing the volume of fresh water required for oil extraction by reusing water in the tailing ponds.
Environmental Concerns Websites (David Suzuki Foundaton & Indigenous Environmental Network)
Pembina institute:
The Pembina institute is an environmental advocacy group who is committed to maintaining environmental health and healthy communities through sustainable management (Pembina.org). This group has a strong interest in influencing the future growth of the Oil Sands in a way that limits environmental impacts and ensures human health. Below are the various suggestions Pembina has on how Canada can minimize the impacts of future Oil Sands development.
Tar Sands Solutions Network
This group has a variety of solutions related to the reducing the use of oil, ways to slow expansion, reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions and alternative energy solutions. Browse through the solutions page to find a wide variety of solutions that highlight reducing expansion of the Oil Sands and personal consumption of oil.
Health Concerns
This site provides links to a variety of sites and highlights the various health concerns that residents of Fort Chipewyan are now dealing with.