Press Release - Premiers Conference

Water Issues and the Alberta Oil Sands.

(Calgary Tuesday July 15, 2008) George Read, Leader of the Alberta Green Party said, “The oil sands use a tremendous amount of water and the premiers need to be asking Alberta some hard questions about water management,” in response to Ed Stelmach spending two billion on carbon capture and storage just in time for the Quebec City Premiers Conference.

“Carbon capture and storage is not green enough to cover over the water issues.” said Read. “Expanding the oil sands means expanding Alberta’s water use and if I was a premier who was down stream I would be asking Ed Stelmach some questions about the water supply.”

The oil sands consume as much water every year as the city of Calgary; that is the equivalent of filling the Saddledome with water everyday. The oil sands processing sends less than 10% of that water back to the Athabasca river.

Water that is not returned to the river ends up in tailings ponds. Tailings ponds cover over 50 square kilometers and will expand as oil sand production increases. Currently no single reclamation option has been developed that is capable of handling the projected volumes in a manner that is technically, environmentally and economically viable (1). Mr. Stelmach has stated that oil sands production will triple in the next eight years(2).

“Alberta is on the verge of a water shortage. The Alberta Greens policy states that any sensible development of the oil sands must take into account the water usage,” said Read.

1) Information taken from the Pembina Report Troubled Waters
2) http://premier.alberta.ca/speeches/speeches-2008-Jan-16-AB_Enterprise.cfm