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magazine / ja11
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July/August 2011 issue |
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Connecting the oil dots
The jury is in: oil sands development is contaminating the Athabasca basin
By Steven Fick and Adam Shoalts
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Oil sands energy development along Alberta’s Athabasca River is scarring the landscape
and driving away wildlife. But is it contaminating the watershed? The Alberta government
and the oil industry have argued that any toxins in the storied Athabasca are the result of
naturally occurring seepage from bitumen deposits, not industrial development. Recent scientific
analysis has disproven this claim.
In 2008, a team led by University of Alberta ecologists David Schindler and Erin Kelly tested
snow and water samples to determine whether industry was contributing pollutants to the Athabasca
and its tributaries. As the accompanying map shows, they found that many toxins were dramatically
higher in snow near upgraders, where oil sands are processed, than in more remote locations.
Confirming what First Nations communities have long suspected, the study demonstrated that
the oil industry releases 13 elements considered “priority pollutants” into the Athabasca watershed.
Official guidelines for the protection of aquatic life were exceeded for cadmium, copper, lead,
mercury, nickel, silver and zinc.
The findings sharply contradict those of a joint industry/government agency charged with monitoring
water quality downstream from the oil sands. Independent panels appointed by the Alberta and
federal governments, however, confirmed Schindler and Kelly’s findings.
“What we did was not rocket science,” says Schindler. “We simply
exposed that the propaganda spewed by industry and government was
not based on fact.”
Both levels of governments are now overhauling how they monitor
the impact of industry on the Athabasca watershed. But Schindler and
Kelly are calling for additional studies to explore the link, if any, between
increasing pollution and fish deformities observed in the Athabasca, as
well as concerns about human health.
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