Toxics Watch Society of Alberta

Joint federal-provincial panel ignored cumulative effects of oilsands projects in accepting Imperial Oil plan, lawyer for group says Hanneke Brooymans The Edmonton Journal Wednesday, January 16, 2008 EDMONTON - The panel that approved Imperial Oil's Kearl oilsands project made three errors, an environmental lawyer told a federal court Tuesday. In a report released last February, the federal-provincial joint panel said the open-pit mine project is not likely to result in significant environmental damage. But that decision was based on the assumption that unproven methods could address the project's significant environmental effects on the landscape, on wildlife and the climate, Ecojustice lawyer Sean Nixon said. He said the panel didn't properly identify cumulative effects on the environment and failed to explain, as required by law, the reasoning used to reach its conclusions. Ecojustice, formerly called the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, represents the Pembina Institute, the Sierra Club of Canada, the Prairie Acid Rain Coalition and the Toxics Watch Society of Alberta. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in March 2007. Imperial Oil's project would be located about 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. The mine eventually would cover 200 square kilometres and would operate until 2060. Ecojustice said it has concerns about the 3.7 million tonnes of greenhouse gases which would be produced annually. It also said the existence of the project could harm the yellow rail, a bird species of special concern under the federal Species At Risk Act. Woodland caribou are another species of concern in the area, Nixon told Justice Daniele Tremblay-Lamer during opening arguments of a proceeding that could last four days. During a break, Imperial Oil spokesman Gordon Wong said the company disagrees with Ecojustice's argument. "We feel the joint panel did consider many of the things they're raising and fulfilled its obligations in terms of making its consideration and filing its report," Wong said. He said public hearings on the project were held for 16 days in several communities and the project application Imperial Oil filed contained about 6,000 to 7,000 pages of information. Wong said the company has not decided to proceed with the project, which would involve three phases, each capable of producing about 100,000 barrels of bitumen a day. Nixon said the joint panel had expressed a concern about a lack of development strategy for the oilsands region. Last July, the provincial government received a report from a committee which had developed a vision to guide the future development of Alberta's oilsands. The committee reached consensus on 96 of the 120 recommendations made after extensive public consultation. A short-term plan based on the recommendations is expected to be released in approximately two months, said Gerald Kastendieck, a Treasury Board Department spokesman. The oilsands secretariat working on the plan is using input from former civil servant Doug Radke on how to handle challenges created by rapid oilsands growth, as well as input from an aboriginal consultation report, he said. Meanwhile, the Alberta government continues to face more pressure over its handling of environmental oilsands issues. Late last year, California adopted a standard that will weed out use of passenger-vehicle fuels that come from sources that produce significant greenhouse gas emissions. By 2020, the standard will reduce the carbon intensity of fuels by at least 10 per cent. Environmental groups says by the time low-grade petroleum emerges from the oilsands, three times as much greenhouse gas has been produced compared to conventional oil production. The groups, including Oil Change International, ForestEthics, and other environmental activists, plan to stage a protest today against "dirty fuel" production outside the Canadian Embassy in Washington during a reception for Premier Ed Stelmach. hbrooymans [at] thejournal [dot] canwest [dot] com © The Edmonton Journal 2008