Oilsands Ponds a Black Spot on Canada, Literally and Figuratively
Alberta’s tailings ponds cover about 97 square miles and hold 340 billion gallons of waste, and the problem has exacerbated at a faster rate than expected. Provincial regulators estimate that cleaning up oilsands facilities represents a $27 billion liability, of which the major oil companies most directly involved have posted only about $1 billion in security.
As government and corporate interests continue to avoid costly clean up solutions in favour of biding their time in the hopes of a future, cheaper fix, the situation continues to worsen.
