Oil Sands Watch | Pembina Institute
 

Reclamation

Only 0.2% of the area disturbed by oil sands mining has been government certified as reclaimed.
  • Of the 529 square kilometres of land disturbed by oil sands mining operations, only 1.04 square kilometres (104 hectares) is certified by the government as reclaimed.1
  • Oil sands mine operators have unofficially reclaimed 54 square kilometres, but these values are self reported and do not follow any standards or guidelines.2
To date fine tailings have never been successfully reclaimed.3
Oil sands reclamation will not return the boreal forest to its natural state.
  • The Athabasca boreal forest is naturally composed of about 40% wetlands,4 and to date, there is known method for recreating bogs fens after oil sands operations.5
  • Wetlands perform several important ecological functions: they reduce flooding and erosion, recharge water tables and store carbons.6
  • For example, it is predicted that Suncor’s North Steepbank Mine will shift the area from substantial wetlands (48% before development) to a predominantly upland ecosystem (35% wetlands) after mine closure and reclamation.7

 

  1. 1. Government of Alberta, “Alberta’s Oil Sands: Facts and Stats” (accessed September 1, 2009).
  2. 2. Suncor reported a reclamation area of 912 hectares in 2007 (A Closer Look at Our Journey toward Sustainability: 2007 Report on Sustainability, 39). Syncrude reported a reclamation area of 4,500 hectares in 2007 (2007 Sustainability Report [accessed September 1, 2009]).
  3. 3. Mary Griffiths, Amy Taylor and Dan Woynillowicz, Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends: Technology and Policy Options to Reduce Water Use in Oil and Oil Sands Development in Alberta (Drayton Valley, AB: The Pembina Institute, 2006).
  4. 4. Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries, Harvest Net-Down Analysis for Forest Management Unit A15 and the Mineable Oil Sands Area (MOSA) (2005).
  5. 5. Alberta Environment, Guideline for Wetland Establishment on Reclaimed Oil Sands Leases (2nd edition), prepared by M. L. Harris of Lorax Environmental for the Wetlands and Aquatics Subgroup of the Reclamation Working Group of the Cumulative Environmental Management Association (Fort McMurray, AB: December 2007).
  6. 6. Mary Griffiths, Amy Taylor and Dan Woynillowicz, Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends: Technology and Policy Options to Reduce Water Use in Oil and Oil Sands Development in Alberta (Drayton Valley, AB: The Pembina Institute, 2006), 79.
  7. 7. Suncor Energy Inc., “Voyageur Project—North Steepbank Extension Project Application,” Vol. 1a (2005), 11-4.