Canadian Gardening: Why the West has been sweltering in a greenhouse, 1 by Lilypon

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Oilsands pollution worries Sask., Alberta
Canadian Press
Published: Tuesday, October 10, 2006

EDMONTON (CP) -- Alberta and Saskatchewan have begun trying to figure out how to deal with increased pollution drifting over the boundary between them from rapidly expanding oilsands projects.

"We already know that the oilsands do have quite a bit of emissions associated with the projects," said Paul James of Saskatchewan's Environment Department.

"We are receiving some acidic deposition."

Consequently, bureaucrats from both provinces have blown the dust off a 2002 agreement on managing transboundary environmental effects, meeting several times this year after a long period of quiet.

"I think Alberta's announcements with respect to the oilsands kind of re-energized things," James said. "With the proposed expansions, we agreed it needed a more serious look."

Figures released last month showed that acid rain, once considered a problem only in the eastern provinces, has begun damaging soils and lakes in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Already, two per cent of the land tested in Saskatchewan has absorbed acid precipitation exceeding its critical load, the maximum amount of acid a given area of land can tolerate before plant and animal life begins to suffer. Most of that land was in the northern forested section of the province, directly east and in the path of prevailing winds blowing from the oilsands region.

With $94 billion of oilsands expansion projects on the books, officials in both provinces are concerned about increasing emissions of acid rain-causing chemicals.

"The environment doesn't end at the border," said Randall Barrett of Alberta Environment.

Acid rain is formed primarily by emissions of sulphur dioxide and various nitrogen oxides.

Sulphur dioxide is increasingly being controlled through smokestack scrubbers.

But nitrogen oxides, which come from many smaller emitters such as trucks, are harder to clean up.

They are also expected to increase faster because new projects use giant trucks in their mining process.

Oilsands mines emitted 50 tonnes of nitrogen oxides per day in 1990. That level had grown to 150 tonnes per day by 2003 and was expected to reach 398 tonnes per day by the end of this year.

If all planned projects are built, the oilsands could be spewing 538 tonnes of nitrogen oxides per day in the future.

About 70 per cent of such emissions eventually blow into Saskatchewan, James said.

"It has the potential to be quite serious in terms of acidifying lakes and ecosystems associated with lakes."

It could also affect the productivity of forests in Saskatchewan's logging industry, he said.

Companies are now being asked to consider Saskatchewan in their environmental assessments. As well, monitoring of acid deposition is expected to increase in Saskatchewan, with Alberta officials providing expertise.

Each province, however, will remain responsible for industrial activities in its own jurisdiction.


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