Page 42 - Shahrvand BC No.1249
P. 42
English Section 42
The Alberta Oil Sands Have Been Leaking for 9 Weeks 42
—By Thomas Stackpole
| Tue Jul. 23, 2013 1392 دادرم4 جمعه- 1249 شماره/ سال متسیب
Nine weeks ago, an oil leak started at a tar
sands extraction operation in Cold Lake, Photos provided by a government scientist show the site of an oil spill in Cold Lake, Alberta.
Alberta, and it’s showing no signs of stopping. The Toronto Star
On Friday, the Toronto Star reported that an
anonymous government scientist who had unlike the tar sand mines that have scarred In that case, tar started bubbled out of “thin In touch with Iranian diversity
been to the spill site—which is operated the landscape of northern Alberta and added fissures” in the ground near the wellhead.
by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.—warned fuel to the Keystone XL controversy, the According to a report from the Energy Vol. 20 / No. 1249 - Friday, July 26, 2013
that the leak wasn’t going away. “Everybody [at Primrose site injects millions of gallons of Resources Conservation Board—an oversight
the company and in government] is freaking pressurized steam hundreds of feet into the agency that was folded into AER last year—
out about this,” the scientist told the Star. ground to heat and loosen the heavy, viscous new limits on steam pressure were imposed,
“We don’t understand what happened. tar, and then pumps it out, using a process and extraction was allowed to resume.
Nobody really understands how to stop it called cyclic steam stimulation (CSS). Eighty But on May 21, something new went wrong
from leaking, or if they do they haven’t put percent of the bitumen that can currently be at the Primrose site. According to Curran,
the measures into place.” The Star reported extracted is only accessible through steam springs of watery bitumen started popping
that 26,000 barrels of watery tar have been extraction. (CSS is one of a few methods of up, seeping out of the earth. When the first
removed from the site. steam extraction.) Although steam extraction three appeared, AER shut down nearby steam
The impacted area spans some 30 acres has been touted as more environmentally injection. When a fourth appeared in a body
of swampy forest, said Bob Curran, a friendly, it has also been shown to release of water close by, AER shut down all injection
spokesperson for the Alberta Energy more CO2 than its savage-looking cousin. within a kilometer of the leaks, and curtailed
Regulator (AER), which oversees these There have been accidents before with steam adjacent steaming operations. “The first three
sites. According to the Star, pictures and the injection mining. At another kind of steam are just leaking right there at the surface,”
documents provided by the scientist show injection site, the high pressure at which the Curran says. “Small cracks in the ground, just
that dozens of animals, including loons and steam is injected exceeded what the terrain kind of bubbling out.”
beavers, have been killed, and some 60,000 could bear and blasted wild-looking craters, It’s unclear what long-term consequences
pounds of contaminated vegetation have hundreds of feet wide, into the landscape. might result from the spill. “They don’t know
been removed. (You can see the pictures at Curran said that although the current leak is where this emulsion has gone, whether it has
the Star’s website.) extremely unusual, a similar—but smaller— impacted groundwater,” says Chris Severson-
Curran confirmed to Mother Jones that the incident occurred at Primrose back in 2009. Baker, managing director of the Pembina
leak was ongoing as of Tuesday afternoon and
said AER was working with the company on Institute, a nonprofit
a plan to contain the damage. He added that group that studies the
he couldn’t make a firm assessment of what impacts of tar sand mining.
caused the leak until after AER had completed According to Severson-
its investigation. “We don’t get into probable Baker, the question is what
causes,” he explained. But he did say that AER will happen if the geology at
was concerned, adding that the leak was “very Primrose is to blame. “[If]
uncommon—which is why we’ve responded the problem is inherent to
the way we have.” the project itself, are they
In response to specific questions about the going to remove the permits
spill, the company sent Mother Jones a for the project?” Even so,
previously prepared statement: “The areas he claims the damage might
have been secured and the emulsion is already be done. “At this
being managed with clean up, recovery and point, what can actually be
reclamation activities well underway. The done to prevent the impact
presence of emulsion on the surface does from continuing to occur? I
not pose a health or human safety risk. The don’t think there is anything
sites are located in a remote area which has that can be done.”
restricted access to the public. The emulsion is -- Mother Jones
being effectively cleaned up with manageable
environmental impact. Canadian Natural
has existing groundwater
monitoring in place and we
are undertaking aquatic and
sediment sampling to monitor
and mitigate any potential
impacts. As part of our wildlife
mitigation program, wildlife
deterrents have been deployed
in the area to protect wildlife…
We are investigating the likely
cause of the occurrence, which
we believe to be mechanical.”
The Primrose bitumen
emulsion site, where the leak
occurred, sits about halfway up
Alberta’s eastern border and
pulls about 100,000 barrels of
bitumen—a thick, heavy tar that
can be refined into petroleum—
out of the ground every day. But
The Alberta Oil Sands Have Been Leaking for 9 Weeks 42
—By Thomas Stackpole
| Tue Jul. 23, 2013 1392 دادرم4 جمعه- 1249 شماره/ سال متسیب
Nine weeks ago, an oil leak started at a tar
sands extraction operation in Cold Lake, Photos provided by a government scientist show the site of an oil spill in Cold Lake, Alberta.
Alberta, and it’s showing no signs of stopping. The Toronto Star
On Friday, the Toronto Star reported that an
anonymous government scientist who had unlike the tar sand mines that have scarred In that case, tar started bubbled out of “thin In touch with Iranian diversity
been to the spill site—which is operated the landscape of northern Alberta and added fissures” in the ground near the wellhead.
by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.—warned fuel to the Keystone XL controversy, the According to a report from the Energy Vol. 20 / No. 1249 - Friday, July 26, 2013
that the leak wasn’t going away. “Everybody [at Primrose site injects millions of gallons of Resources Conservation Board—an oversight
the company and in government] is freaking pressurized steam hundreds of feet into the agency that was folded into AER last year—
out about this,” the scientist told the Star. ground to heat and loosen the heavy, viscous new limits on steam pressure were imposed,
“We don’t understand what happened. tar, and then pumps it out, using a process and extraction was allowed to resume.
Nobody really understands how to stop it called cyclic steam stimulation (CSS). Eighty But on May 21, something new went wrong
from leaking, or if they do they haven’t put percent of the bitumen that can currently be at the Primrose site. According to Curran,
the measures into place.” The Star reported extracted is only accessible through steam springs of watery bitumen started popping
that 26,000 barrels of watery tar have been extraction. (CSS is one of a few methods of up, seeping out of the earth. When the first
removed from the site. steam extraction.) Although steam extraction three appeared, AER shut down nearby steam
The impacted area spans some 30 acres has been touted as more environmentally injection. When a fourth appeared in a body
of swampy forest, said Bob Curran, a friendly, it has also been shown to release of water close by, AER shut down all injection
spokesperson for the Alberta Energy more CO2 than its savage-looking cousin. within a kilometer of the leaks, and curtailed
Regulator (AER), which oversees these There have been accidents before with steam adjacent steaming operations. “The first three
sites. According to the Star, pictures and the injection mining. At another kind of steam are just leaking right there at the surface,”
documents provided by the scientist show injection site, the high pressure at which the Curran says. “Small cracks in the ground, just
that dozens of animals, including loons and steam is injected exceeded what the terrain kind of bubbling out.”
beavers, have been killed, and some 60,000 could bear and blasted wild-looking craters, It’s unclear what long-term consequences
pounds of contaminated vegetation have hundreds of feet wide, into the landscape. might result from the spill. “They don’t know
been removed. (You can see the pictures at Curran said that although the current leak is where this emulsion has gone, whether it has
the Star’s website.) extremely unusual, a similar—but smaller— impacted groundwater,” says Chris Severson-
Curran confirmed to Mother Jones that the incident occurred at Primrose back in 2009. Baker, managing director of the Pembina
leak was ongoing as of Tuesday afternoon and
said AER was working with the company on Institute, a nonprofit
a plan to contain the damage. He added that group that studies the
he couldn’t make a firm assessment of what impacts of tar sand mining.
caused the leak until after AER had completed According to Severson-
its investigation. “We don’t get into probable Baker, the question is what
causes,” he explained. But he did say that AER will happen if the geology at
was concerned, adding that the leak was “very Primrose is to blame. “[If]
uncommon—which is why we’ve responded the problem is inherent to
the way we have.” the project itself, are they
In response to specific questions about the going to remove the permits
spill, the company sent Mother Jones a for the project?” Even so,
previously prepared statement: “The areas he claims the damage might
have been secured and the emulsion is already be done. “At this
being managed with clean up, recovery and point, what can actually be
reclamation activities well underway. The done to prevent the impact
presence of emulsion on the surface does from continuing to occur? I
not pose a health or human safety risk. The don’t think there is anything
sites are located in a remote area which has that can be done.”
restricted access to the public. The emulsion is -- Mother Jones
being effectively cleaned up with manageable
environmental impact. Canadian Natural
has existing groundwater
monitoring in place and we
are undertaking aquatic and
sediment sampling to monitor
and mitigate any potential
impacts. As part of our wildlife
mitigation program, wildlife
deterrents have been deployed
in the area to protect wildlife…
We are investigating the likely
cause of the occurrence, which
we believe to be mechanical.”
The Primrose bitumen
emulsion site, where the leak
occurred, sits about halfway up
Alberta’s eastern border and
pulls about 100,000 barrels of
bitumen—a thick, heavy tar that
can be refined into petroleum—
out of the ground every day. But
