Oilsands dumping equivalent of a tanker full of bitumen into Athabasca waterways each year; toxins fifty times higher downstream

Edmonton Journal - Hanneke Brooymans

EDMONTON - Levels of toxic chemicals in the Athabasca watershed are up to 50 times higher downstream of oilsands developments, a new University of Alberta study says.

The research, spearheaded by renowned aquatics ecologist David Schindler, also estimates that Suncor and Syncrude deposit the equivalent of what it describes as an oil spill's worth of bitumen into the surrounding environment each year.

The study was published Monday in the U.S. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The Alberta government acknowledges the plants release dust that settles in the surrounding environment, but disagrees with the contention that toxins end up in the river or causes any problems.

Chief Allan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation said the latest research fits with his community's view on how it has been affected by upstream development.

"The way I view it is if the government and all stakeholders had listened to what we were saying a while back, we may have come up with a solution already to all these things," Adam said. "But right now we're right back to square one. It shows how government keeps on promoting that industry is clean and everything is good, more or less propaganda. In other words, saying everything is OK, just trust us. But when they come out with reports like this it damages the credibility of the Alberta government."

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