It’s easy to forget that the oil sands began as a research project. Syncrude Canada was founded 50 years ago as a research consortium that included the provincial and federal governments, and it was tasked with finding a way to turn the bituminous sands around Fort McMurray into a commercially viable project. But the country’s energy sector is […]
Birds die in tailings pond, companies not at fault
The Alberta Energy Regulator says oil sands companies Syncrude, Suncor and CNRL were following the rules when 196 birds died on tailings ponds in early November. Heavy fog and heavy, wet snow were deemed factors in why the waterfowl landed on the toxic ponds on November 4th despite deterrents being in place. The AER had stated 122 birds […]