Jump to content
Fly Fusion Forums

Oil Sands Tailing Ponds Seeping Into Athabasca River??


Recommended Posts

I read this in the Medicine Hat News today-...A report prepared for Suncore Last November estimates that more than five million litres of toxic liquid per day is leaking from one of the company's tailing ponds...They say most of it is collected and returned to the pond...The tailing pond is 60 years old...

 

I heard last year on the news, while I was working up in Ft.Mac, that Native people living down river are experiencing allot and new kinds of cancer, that they have never had a problem with in the past...

 

 

Sick...Jeff..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is terrible. I was at Suncor in September when the leak occured and it turns my stomach every time I hear of something like this happening.

 

Things will get a lot better in the future once Suncor's operation starts up across the highway, further from the river.

 

BTW, Suncor has only been in operation since 1967, so the pond can't be 60 years old. The article I read said it has been leaking since the 1960's...

 

Either way, something has to be done about the older plants. The newer plants like Albian Sands take a lot of care in making sure they do the best they can to protect the environment and the wild life affected by their operation. Hopefully others follow suit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crazy..I read an article on the poisoned fish in Lake Athabasca and how the natives are experincing new illnesses such as cancers surely caused by the toxins..Also read an article years ago that Dr. David Suzuki wrote about a kayak trip he took down the Athabasca and he deemed the oil sands project to be "the worst ecological disaster in the world" he spoke of toxic waste "seeping" out of the banks from operations.

1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Something has to be done!...But the Government just seems to keep covering it up...$$$$$....

 

Twas Environment Minister Rob Renner Said "the tailing pond that is seeping is almost 60 years old"...

 

But he's probably out to lunch, along with the rest of the Government...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Crazy..I read an article on the poisoned fish in Lake Athabasca and how the natives are experincing new illnesses such as cancers surely caused by the toxins..Also read an article years ago that Dr. David Suzuki wrote about a kayak trip he took down the Athabasca and he deemed the oil sands project to be "the worst ecological disaster in the world" he spoke of toxic waste "seeping" out of the banks from operations.

1

 

Oh oh. You referenced Dr. S.

 

Trouble is brewing.......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This isn't the only incident. The present attitude is to sit on it and try to contain it.

There are holding cells at Swan Hills that are leaking into the groundwater. Slave Lake is downstream and the residents have been fuming for years. The treatment plant has failed most of their burns - which means when toxic chemicals were to be completely oxidized by burning, they weren't. As a result, the dioxan and furan(for example) fallout around the plant has coated everything, prompting the ban on hunting and fishing around the plant.

Closer to home, there is the beloved Canada Creosite Site recovery plant on the Bow. They estimate there is a few million litres of creosote still underground. They choose the place where the bedrock is lowest and began pumping water out from there. The groundwater flow in the area is altered so there is a net migration to this particular bedrock pool. Now, everybody knows creosote is not water soluble. So they will NEVER recover most of it. They have contained it for the time being with concrete walls along the Bow. How long will the concrete hold? It would literally cost billions to dig it all up and process it properly, not to mention the disruption to business and traffic in the area. So, here we sit with this present attitude for these problems.

Will we ever learn? You would think so, but it ain't happening. A few more examples?

The railway yards in Ogden. They are still in operation. The entire site is rife with toxins. Again, the solution is containment. Why don't we get after CP now to clean it up while they're still in business? Politics.

Not far from there is the IKO asphalt shingle plant. Their employee safety record is atrocious. Drive by and read the sign that says 'We have worked _______ days without an accident'. Were it not so sad it would be a joke. The smell is gross. Now, with a record like that, do you really think they are responsible environmental stewards? Again, they're not going to clean up the area while the plant is still operating. Catch 22 - when the plant is no longer operating it will be because they went bankrupt. Who cleans up the mess?

Well this has got me in a good mood. :angry: Have a nice day.

Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Sundancefisher
Crazy..I read an article on the poisoned fish in Lake Athabasca and how the natives are experincing new illnesses such as cancers surely caused by the toxins..Also read an article years ago that Dr. David Suzuki wrote about a kayak trip he took down the Athabasca and he deemed the oil sands project to be "the worst ecological disaster in the world" he spoke of toxic waste "seeping" out of the banks from operations.

1

 

Any toxins are bad but I would point to pulp mills long before I would suggest the oil sands are the cause. Oil sands have been leaching into the Athabasca river for millions of years. The ecosystem is evolved for it.

 

On the other hand...

 

Pulp mills release tons and tons of dioxins (proven cancer causing chemicals) into the Athabasca River daily. Most people can guess that the amount of effluent they can release is regulated but how many know it is regulated as tons per volume of water. When they get more effluent they just "dilute" with more water.

 

When I studied fish downstream of Hinton we found 99% of all whitefish had tumors both inside and outside the body. Absolutely disgusting. When studying the whitefish down at Athabasca we also found tumors. As a scientist I would have to point to the dioxin mat sweeping downstream towards Lake Athabasca. About 10 years ago I heard that the poison mat should be reaching McMurray.

 

The research I did was for a pulp mill. I am sure that they never published that data. :-[. One of the reasons I am no longer in the business.

 

sadly

 

Sun

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...