Environmentalists' report to call for Ottawa to act on tar sands
BILL CURRY
From Friday's Globe and Mail
February 15, 2008
OTTAWA - Alberta's oil sands are the most destructive project on Earth,
causing environmental damage well beyond provincial borders, a new report
says.
>From acid rain falling in Saskatchewan to toxic pollution spewing from
Ontario oil refineries, a report to be released this morning by
Toronto-based Environmental Defence calls on Ottawa to act where Alberta
will not.
The environmentalists will be joined by two Alberta native leaders, who will
describe first hand how oil sands pollution is affecting fish and water on
their traditional lands.
Titled Canada's Toxic Tar Sands, the detailed report argues oil sands
projects are violating existing Canadian laws such as the Fisheries Act.
"Few Canadians know that Canada is home to one of the world's largest dams
and it is built to hold toxic waste from just one Tar Sands operation," Rick
Smith, the executive director of Environmental Defence, writes in the
report's introduction. "No matter where you live in Canada, your desire to
tackle global warming is being held hostage by the Tar Sands."
The heightened rhetoric from environmentalists comes in the midst of a
provincial election in Alberta, with a federal campaign expected to follow
shortly.
In Alberta, where oil sands development drives the supercharged economy, the
recently announced plan for controlling emissions was widely panned by
environmentalists. The federal government is promising to release new
pollution rules shortly and is contemplating the imposition of more
stringent requirements for Alberta's oil and gas sector.
The stark tone from environmentalists is in contrast to a review panel
report released jointly last year by the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board
and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.
The panel was asked to review Imperial Oil's application for the Kearl Oil
Sands Project near Fort McMurray. The panel concluded "the project is not
likely to result in significant adverse environmental effects." However, it
did warn that future projects may not get the green light.
