ReturnToTheTarSands

Here is a sample of the variety of stories we heard about the tailings ponds and the flux of water through the oil sands operations…

Randal Barrett, President of Cumulative Environmental Management Association (CEMA):
Tailings ponds are mainly a result of water used to extract bitumen from sands that have been excavated in open pit mines. The majority of new projects use underground extraction processes such as SAGD (steam assisted gravity drainage) and do not require large tailings ponds. In the beginning of a project, 3.5 to 4.5 bbl (barrels) of water are used, per barrel of oil, whereas as a project proceeds, once a tailings pond is filled and recycling is in progress the ratio of water to bitumen varies from about 2 to 2.5 bbl water/bbl oil. Lower ratios of 2 or 1 bbl water/ bbl oil are what we are all hoping for as new technology comes into use.

All water in tailings ponds is entirely recyclable, many times, until the salt and sediment concentration reaches levels that corrode equipment, at which point fresh water is used to dilute and recycle the tailings water. Of the total water used in operations, only approximately 15% is fresh water, and 85% is recycled from the tailings ponds. The 15% is needed to make up for water that has evaporated and to dilute the salt content.

“I need to correct myself about the percentages of recycled water I am not sure if it is exactly 85 percent. So to make sure it is accurate please note that once the ponds are full then over half of the water used is from recycling but there is still fresh water used to make up the rest. The amount recycled varies across the projects.”

By half way through a project, the tailings ponds are shrinking in size. New methods such as thickened paste technologies are further reducing the need for more fresh water. No water is released back into the Athabasca River, except for a small amount that is treated by Suncor.

“The Suncor water that is returned to the river is once through cooling water and is not in contact with any bitumen process affected water. There is no discharge of process affected water to the Athabasca River.”

All water that are left in tailings ponds at the end of a project are moved to new tailings ponds on new projects, and eventually the last tailings pond is called an end pit lake. Gypsum is then added, the solids are expected to settle, and an engineered wetland is created to ensure water that leaks into the ground and surface waters is clean. No end pit lakes have been created yet.

Quality of water in the Athabasca has been researched by Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program (RAMP) and they have found that water quality upstream and downstream from oilsands operations is very similar.

”Be sure to check out our CEMA website at cema online and the Alberta Environment oil sands site. Takeontheworld.gov.ab.ca”.

We have heard elsewhere that there has always been a high level of hydrocarbons in the Athabasca River. On hot days in the summer you can see the tar dripping down the riverbanks from the Fort McMurray Bridge. When I rode across that bridge I could see stripes of gooey tar in contact with the water.

Lindsay Telfer, Sierra Club Prairies Chapter:
“Water in tailings ponds is highly toxic and is not able to be treated and released or re-used after the on site processes. Companies thought that if it sat for several years it would settle, however this has not happened after many years. Tailings ponds are getting bigger and bigger, and are very close to overflowing into the Athabasca River. It seems there is no plan for long term management of the tailings ponds. In addition to suspended solids such as clay and sand, various toxins exist in the water, which are not removed. These toxins are likely the cause of high levels of rare cancers in Fort Chipewyan down stream”.

There is no proof that the tailings (or better yet the toxins found therein - like Napthenic Acids - are carcinogenic but they are suspected carcinogens. Ironically enough, despite Cancer agency calls for long term studies on Napthenic Acid specifically, to date, it appears as though this research has not been complete. Mary Griffiths

Publication: Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends – Pembina Institute
Oil sands mining operations abide by a zero-discharge policy, so tailings are pumped from the extraction facility to tailings ponds where they are deposited and left to separate and settle. Dependent upon the tailings management and technologies employed, and the proportion of fines in the mined oil sands, it is estimated that this settling can take anywhere from a few decades to as much as125–150 years.135 Referring to these vast storage facilities as ponds is somewhat of a misnomer given that they are some of the largest human-made structures in the world and already cover an area of over 50 square kilometres.

Oil companies currently have licenses to remove twice as much water from the Athabasca River as the city of Calgary consumes annually. However, what might be more detrimental to natural hydrological systems is the use of groundwater.

Pembina’s Position on Water Policy:
There is not sufficient high quality data and information on which to base policy decisions.
The policy framework does not ensure that the full costs of water use are borne by the oil sector and therefore it does not provide a financial incentive to reduce water consumption.

The policy framework does not drive innovation or encourage/require the use of the best available technologies and processes when it comes to water conservation.

The policy framework is not adaptable and therefore cannot adequately adjust to changing climatic, geographic, and/or socio-economic conditions.

Interpreter, Oil Sands Discovery Center:
Hot water and solvents are mixed with the oil sands and the bitumen floats to the top. The water in the tailings ponds is recycled so that only 30% of water used in operations is fresh water. This 30% is mostly to replace water lost to evaporation. Naphtha emissions have been reduced drastically from tailings ponds, and precious metals such as zirconium are now being recovered from the sands after the bitumen is extracted. No water is allowed out of the tailings ponds (except some at Suncor), and new technologies are reducing need for water.
In response to a question about the pace of development, the interpreter explained that there was an “incredible” process for approval, locally, provincially and federally. There are tight air quality and water management regulations in place, making it difficult to obtain approval.

Some guys in a bar in Didsbury were concerned that the economy is slowing down and that we need to get the oil flowing faster. Other than the guys in Didsbury and the Interpreter from the Oil Sands Discovery Center, nobody told us they thought such rapid development was okay.

www.oilsandsdiscovery.com

Syncrude website:
Of all the water used at our operation, we import only about 20 per cent from the Athabasca River which flows north through the Athabasca Oil Sands Deposit. Water intensity was 2.26 cubic meters per barrel of production, an improvement of nearly one per cent over last year. About half of the fresh water used at Syncrude is returned to the hydrologic cycle through evaporation.

The following table is taken from their sustainability report:

The only water discharged into the Athabasca is 314,000 cubic meters of sanitary wastewater (not process affected).

Filed under: Commentary, Environmental Justice, TTTS on September 24th, 2007