Syncrude Claims 20% Restoration Of Tar Sands Land; To Date, One 104-Hectare Site Returned To AL
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The oilsands underlie more than 140,000 square kilometres of boreal forest in northern Alberta, with 168 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. About 9.5 billion barrels have been produced since the first Suncor mine opened in 1967. About 20 per cent of the deposits of the tar-like resource are located within 75 metres of the surface and can be mined by scraping it up with giant shovels. The remainder is recovered with methods akin to traditional oil well drilling, although high-pressure steam is pumped underground to help the heavy oil to flow.
Of the 127 operating oilsands projects as of last year, five were mining projects. The outlook is for production to continue to rise from the Athabasca oilsands, with the province projecting output will climb from 1.9 million barrels a day in 2012 to 3.8 million by 2022. According to Alberta Energy, about 767 square kilometres of land has been disturbed by oilsand mining to date and about one-tenth of that — 77 sq. km — is in the process of being reclaimed.
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Syncrude’s Cheryl Robb said the reason oilsands companies appear slow to reclaim land they disturb is because oilsands mining occurs over decades and large areas are active. “If an area we have reclaimed is still necessary for our operations people to get access through or to, we would keep it under the Syncrude lease longer,” she says.
Syncrude says it has reclaimed 20 per cent of the land it has disturbed, but so far only one 104-hectare site has been officially certified as reclaimed and returned to the province.
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http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Returning+oilsands+nature+long+slow+process/9839215/story.html