Syncrude Earns First Land Reclamation Certificate in Oilsands Industry

By Bob Weber, THE CANADIAN PRESS

EDMONTON – A former dumping ground for earth removed from a bitumen strip mine has become the first piece of land officially certified as reclaimed from any of Alberta’s oilsands, a step both Syncrude and government officials called an important milestone in easing concerns over the megaprojects.

But environmentalists say the certification means little, since the reclaimed site bears little resemblance to the open pits and tailings ponds that will be the real challenge.

The 104 hectares of forest and ponds about 30 kilometres north of Fort McMurray is once again home to deer, coyotes and other wildlife, said Syncrude spokesman Alain Moore.

“If people aren’t looking closely, it blends into the natural landscape,” he said. “It’s a big milestone for us.”

Since 1983, Syncrude has planted more than 200,000 seedlings in the area, including aspen and spruce trees as well as saskatoon and alder bushes.

The final certification came after inspectors visited the site last week, Moore said.

Reclamation doesn’t mean the land has been returned to its former state, said Alberta Environment spokeswoman Kim Capstick.

“It doesn’t mean that if parcel A had five trees, those five trees are there again,” she said. “It means (the area) has reasonably the same kind of usage.”

Formerly an area of forest and low wetlands, the site is now higher and drier and marked by hills. It’s along the highway leading to the Syncrude plant, surrounded by unreclaimed land and roads.

Capstick acknowledged that reclaiming a soil dump will probably be easier than dealing with tailings ponds or the giant pits left by the actual mines.

“As we start the reclamation process on the mine portions and on the tailings ponds, we’re going to have added challenges,” she said. “This way we’ve learned from experience.”

Simon Dyer of the environmental think-tank The Pembina Institute said reclaiming this site will prove to be the easy part.

“It’s completely unrepresentative of the challenges that the mining industry faces going forward.”

He added that even officially reclaimed land will be permanently altered.

“(Industry) has no ability to reclaim the peatlands or the wetlands. The forest will be transformed.”

Environmentalists have long criticized the industry for what they call slow efforts to restore the land after its energy resources have been removed. A recent report from institute pointed out that Syncrude’s annual reclamation rate is about 0.78 per cent of the land disturbed by its operations – a total of nearly 21,000 hectares.

The total amount of land disturbed by all oilsands projects is now about 42,000 hectares.

But Capstick says reclamation takes a long time because the projects last a long time.

“You can’t reclaim until you’re done using the land.”

Moore said Syncrude is close to applying for certification for several other sites in its lease.