CAPP sees benefits in reporting oilsands tailings

Edmonton Journal- August 9

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers on Monday said it hopes the addition of oilsands tailings data into the Canadian pollutant release inventory will increase the transparency of environmental reporting and highlight advances being made in the area of land reclamations. Oilsands producers already report the contaminants released into the land, air and water, but it’s the first time oilsands miners have contributed tailings and rock pollutants in settling ponds. According to CAPP, oilsands operators will adhere to reporting standards already required by traditional miners.

According to CAPP, oilsands mines accounted for about 10 per cent of all the tailings and waste rock produced by the mining sector from 2006-09. The group said it would release its own data in its first oilsands performance report to be released later this fall. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. are spending more than $1 billion to develop innovative new technologies to speed up separation of water and silts, enabling the faster recycling of water and faster return of tailings areas to their original state in accordance with provincial regulations. Suncor’s Pond One, which was created more than half a century ago in the 1960s, will be the first fully-liquid tailings pond to be reclaimed to its original state later this year.....click here to read more.