Alberta’s toxic oil sands tailings ponds will be a top priority for Rebecca Schulz, as she balances the sometimes conflicting needs of protecting the province’s environment and its energy sector in her new role as Minister of Environment and Protected Areas.Danielle Smith
“We need to focus on the things that we agree on. Emissions reduction is very important, taking care of our environment – especially in a province as beautiful as Alberta,” she said “But it also matters that we have a strong, sustainable, viable, competitive energy industry both now and into the future.”
While industry says companies need to be able to release treated tailings water so they can reclaim land disturbed by oil sands operations, local Indigenous communities and environmental groups say the plan presents an untenable ecological risk. Their arguments became even louder when it was revealed in the spring that Imperial Oil failed to inform communities ofThe Kearl leak – and the overflow of a separate pond at the same site – focused public attention on the ever-growing tailings problem.
Part of that goal will rely on attracting industries with lower environmental footprints to Alberta to help diversify the economy and significantly reducing the emissions of existing sectors such as oil and gas. Mr. Jean said in an interview that the program has already enhanced certainty and flexibility for investors in Alberta’s petrochemicals sector, and he expects it will do the same for other large-scale projects.