Students examine the oil sands

One University of Calgary class aims to keep Alberta green, both environmentally and financially.

The university’s environmental science department sent 22 students on a field school experience to study the oil sands and other potentially at-risk industrial environments throughout northern and southern Alberta. These excursions, which occurred two weeks prior to the beginning of the fall semester, gave students an up-close look at the impacts and nuances of Alberta’s economic engine.
“We had a vague sense of what to expect,” said environmental studies student Danny Chavez. “But the sheer scale of the operation was quite shocking.”

Unlike traditional petroleum, the oil sand deposits around the Athabasca River in northern Alberta consist of a mixture of oil, sand, minerals and water. Extracting the oil from that mixture requires a great deal of effort, resource and expense; and only today’s high crude prices make the endeavor economically feasible. However, a significant environmental footprint is left behind.

“The oil sands have a tremendous environmental impact,” said Sierra Club prairie chapter director Lindsey Telfer. “Current estimates say four barrels of water are needed to extract one barrel of oil and water used in the oil sands can’t be used for anything else. So, up north, we’re beginning to see dam after dam filled with toxic water.”

Telfer warned the environmental impact is not contained within Alberta.

“The oil sands are located in the heart of Canada’s boreal forest,” explained Telfer. “It can’t just be put back by the reclamation process. We are starting to see acid rain in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. There is an increase in air pollutants and greenhouse gases. We need to take time to identify the limits of oil sands sustainability.”

However, the visiting environmental science class observed some positive changes.

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