Orcas, also known as killer whales, are listed as a threatened species in Canada. Scientists and environmentalists are
concerned that increased tanker traffic along the BC coast increases the risk of spills for this already stressed species.
(Thomas Kitchin/First Light)
Suncor processing facilities and tailings ponds along the Athabasca River (David Dodge, The Pembina Institute)
The Syncrude mine from the air. The mining operations strip away boreal forest and mine up to 100 metres into the earth.
Copyright © 2005 The Pembina Institute. (Chris Evans, The Pembina Institute)
An idyllic day by the Bluewater Bridges over the St. Clair River in Sarnia belies the toxic water and air pollution
created by oil refineries in Ontario's 'Chemical Valley'
British Columbia - Tanker Traffic Grows
British Columbia professes to lead Canada on tackling global warming, but it is undermining its own progress by building infrastructure to let tar sands oil be exported from west coast ports.
Tar sands oil already travels through BC in a Kinder Morgan-owned pipeline to Burnaby. The number of tankers loading at the Burnaby Westridge Terminal has gone from none in 2000 to 34 in 2007. Kinder Morgan is in the midst of expanding its pipeline to Burnaby from 260,000 to 300,000 barrels per day.
And, while victims of the Exxon Valdez oil spill continue to fight Exxon in court for damages 20 years after the disaster, a new threat to the coastline is emerging. Enbridge wants to build a pipeline from the tar sands to the northern BC coast in order to serve the Asian market. The pipeline could carry tar sands oil to tankers so big that one is like "a jumbo West Edmonton Mall."3 The project still faces significant First Nations legal hurdles.
Alberta - Sacrifice Zone
Industry wants to build a dozen new "upgraders" that process tar sands material in an area near Edmonton where human health will be sacrificed to increased air pollution. The building boom has earned the area the name "Upgrader Alley."
In 2005, existing facilities in the area already produced 19,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxide and 20,100 tonnes of sulphur dioxide. Independent studies have found the pollution in the area already rivals the most polluted cities in China, 8 and industry's own studies show that provincial pollution guidelines are being exceeded.9 In case of emergency blow outs, local residents may have to evacuate or ‘shelter in place' – staying in a room sealed with duct tape or wet cloths until chemicals in the air dissipate 10.
Saskatchewan - Raining Acid
It is well known that Alberta is polluting itself, 13 but what is less known is that this pollution is increasingly exported to other provinces too. Studies have estimated that 70% of the sulphur in Alberta's airshed is transported into Saskatchewan. 14
The pollutants that cause acid rain can travel hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. 15 Environment Canada estimates that the current rates of acid forming pollution from the tar sands are 158,000 tonnes per year for sulphur oxides and 76,000 tonnes per year for nitrous oxides. 16
At a Saskatchewan site 200 kilometers downwind of the tar sands, the mean level of acid in precipitation increased in the past 12 years, sliding from pH 5.3 to 4.1. Normal rainfall has a pH of 5.6.17 In 2005, Saskatchewan Environment ran a network of 10 monitoring stations in the northwest of the province – across from the tar sands – and found a build up of nitrogen from Alberta.18
Acid rain affects lakes, rivers, soils, forests, buildings, wildlife and human health. In rivers and lakes, acid deposition exacerbates the conversion of mercury to the more dangerous form of methyl-mercury that can be taken up by fish, and ultimately eaten by humans, animals and other fish.19
Ontario - Chemical Valley
The area around Sarnia is known as Canada's "Chemical Valley" because of its concentration of large polluting industry. Despite being thousands of kilometers from the tar sands, the negative impacts are felt even here.
At 70,000 barrels per day, Suncor Energy's Sarnia refinery that processes tar sands oil is the fourth largest polluter in the region, sending out over 10 million kilograms of toxic air pollutants in 2005. 20 But, the Suncor Energy refinery is ranked number one in the region in terms of the chemicals released that are known or suspected to be reproductive or developmental toxicants. 21
The Aamjiwnaang First Nation in Chemical Valley is experiencing disturbing impacts from the pollution as twice as many girls are being born as boys. Moore Township, an adjacent non-native community, is also experiencing a lower male birth rate, and scientists have found evidence of "feminized" turtles in the St. Clair River that runs through the area. 22 However, it is not known what exactly is causing these results since many types of heavy industry exist there.
Shell Oil is proposing to build a new refinery for tar sands oil in the Sarnia area that will be two to three times bigger than the Suncor Energy plant, thereby significantly adding to the pollution in the area.
First Nations - Downriver
Toxic pollution from the tar sands has created what amounts to a slow motion oil spill in the region's river systems. First Nations downstream see the impacts first hand: "There's deformed pickerel in Lake Athabasca... Pushed in faces, bulging eyes, humped back, crooked tails... never used to see that. Great big lumps on them... you poke that, it sprays water."11 Fish frying in a pan smell like burning plastic.
Communities living downstream from the tar sands have seen unusual rates of cancer. A recent report for the health authority of one downstream community, Fort Chipewyan, found serious flaws in the monitoring programs and went on to discover dangerous and rising levels of mercury, arsenic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). 12
For years, Dr. John O'Connor, the family doctor for Fort Chipewyan, has been growing increasingly worried about the number of cases of bile duct cancer, colon cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, autoimmune diseases such as lupus, as well as thyroid cancers, overactive thyroid, and skin rashes. At the request of Health Canada and Alberta Environment, the Alberta College of Physicians launched investigations against Dr. O'Connor to stop him speaking out.
The Clearwater River and surrounding boreal forest are threatened by adjacent tar sands developments (Garth Lenz)
