When was the last time you saw a fourteen-cent stamp? Well thats how long the Alberta oil sands have been under development. The stamp illustration shows the giant shovel used to mine the tar sand. But I digress.

I never thought of the growth Ft. McMurray being similar to the boom of Silicon Valley but the oil sands certainly have added significant wealth to the Canadian and Alberta economy.

Anyway you put it Ft. McMurray is generating successful businesses and making people rich at a rate not seen since the computer boom in Silicon Valley during the '90s... "The benefits of running your own business are endless," admits Najmeddine. "You can do whatever you want, however you want, whenever you want to. You make the plans, you follow them through and you strive to succeed. Sometimes you fail but you learn from that mistake and get back to work. You have only yourself to answer to." Via The Edmonton Sun

Not being one to just accept the media hype, I did some research and discovered that indeed the impact of the oil sands is considerable:

Oil sands activities will lead to significant economic impacts not only in Alberta but also in other parts of Canada and abroad. Based on our central scenario, the development and production activities lead to a total increase in GDP of some $885 billion... We estimate the annual GDP impact of oil sands activities, in the case of Alberta, equalled 9 percent of the province's annual GDP in 2000. This percentage would rise to 20 percent of annual GDP by 2020. Via Canadian Energy Research Institute - Economic Impacts of Alberta's Oil Sands - PDF

Certainly the economic impact of the oil sands development in Northern Alberta is huge. But then I started wondering about the environmental impact.

Environmental Impact

My biggest concerns with all this development is the impact on the environment, specifically water, since water is an essential part of separating the oil from the sand. Good thing we have an abundance of fresh mountain water.

The mining industry claims to believe that the boreal forest will eventually colonize the reclaimed lands, yet 30 years after the opening of the first open pit mine near Fort McMurray, Alberta, no land is considered by the Alberta Government as having been "reclaimed."... About 5-10% of the two to four barrels of water used for processing is considered as wastewater. Via Wikipedia

I knew that a lot of water was need to process tar sand but 2-4 gallons per barrel of crude? Yikes!

Let's hope that we see some good stewardship of our environment by corporate Canada and the government. But the fact that in the last 30 years that no land has been considered 'reclaimed' is somewhat disturbing. I know Mother Nature moves slow but I wonder how we can help it along? Perhaps a tree planting initiative?

If you work in the oil sands projects I would love to hear your observations and opinions on the environmental practices you have witnessed.