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Here is an interesting National Geographic article on the Canadian Oil Sands
Regards,
Ed
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Saturday, February 21, 2009
Fwd: United Action for Justice: February 2009
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Volume 6, Number 1 • February 2009 | ||
In This Issue:
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| Dear friends, As we move into 2009, many new opportunities for action, worship, and learning are available. The United for Peace Campaign offers a new action initiative with a petition to circulate, sign, and return by April 3. Learn together with the United for Peace DVD accompanied by a study guide. Deepen your understanding of cultural diversity and action against racism with Black History resources, on March 21, during Asian Heritage Month, or in an intercultural workshop. And don't forget to take one hour on March 28 to act for ecological justice with people around the world! Get Involved in the United for Peace Action InitiativeGet involved in the United for Peace Campaign's action initiative. Learn more about four critical areas of focus for peace: Aboriginal justice in Canada, and peacebuilding in the Middle East, the Philippines, and Colombia. Sign, and encourage others to sign, a petition calling for Canada to take positive steps to build peace in these areas. Find out how to engage your local political representative. Return petitions by April 3. "One Step," a new complete worship service calling the church to be a peacemaker, is now also available. » Download a petition, background information, and the worship service Learn Together with the Peace and Conflict DVDThe new United for Peace DVD offers five one-hour sessions for groups wishing to explore more deeply themes of peace, conflict, and violence. It includes a Spirit Connection program on United for Peace filmed in Israel and Palestine, and the voices of global partners and United Church members sharing powerful stories and faith reflections on the themes of land, reconciliation, challenging, and transformation. A study guide is also included. Available from UCRD and AVEL. » Learn more about United for Peace study and worship resources KAIROS Calls on National Leaders for a Moral Response to Economic CrisisA recent public letter to Prime Minister Harper and Canada's First Ministers from KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives calls for a moral response to the global economic crisis. KAIROS, of which the United Church is a member, calls for a detailed action plan, based on the principles of solidarity, sustainability, sufficiency, and equity. For those interested in the diverse justice work that KAIROS is engaged in, an opportunity to learn more and get involved is coming up June 17–20, with a vibrant four-day Gathering in Waterloo. » Read the letter to Prime Minister Harper Honour Black History in 2009February is Black History (or African Heritage) Month in Canada. These resources can be used at any time to honour the historical and present contributions of peoples of African descent. Black History Month is also a time to remember the struggles from which Black peoples came and the continued legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. It could also be an opportunity for a congregation to commit to become more culturally sensitive, racially inclusive, and justice-conscious. » Check out a range of Black History worship tools and background information March 21: International Day for the Elimination of Racial DiscriminationWorship and workshop resources are available to help you mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It is observed annually on March 21, or at other times during the year, and focuses on anti-racism themes. » Obtain online worship materials Celebrate Earth Hour and Turn off Your Lights on March 28, 2009, at 8:30Participate in the KAIROS Campaign "Re-energize: Time for a Carbon Sabbath." Earth Hour was established to draw our attention to the connection between our use of fossil fuels and climate change. This year, deepen your understanding and learn more about the links between fossil fuels, the violation of human rights, and conflict. Celebrate at home, with neighbours, or at church. KAIROS has developed action, education, and worship materials including a skit titled "Bake Sale for Big Oil." Let KAIROS know how you are planning to celebrate Earth Hour so that they can inform others about events and tell the government that Canadians of faith and conscience believe the fossil fuel crisis requires immediate action. » Download or order the materials (free except for shipping) Celebrate Asian Heritage Month in MayMay is Asian Heritage Month in Canada. The month provides a continuing opportunity to prayerfully reflect on the contributions of Asian Canadians to Canadian society, and to honour and celebrate this important aspect of Canadian history. A fresh worship service and bulletin insert will be added this year. » Plan for Asian Heritage Month in your congregation Participate in May Intercultural WorkshopOn May 27 and 28, join an intercultural gathering in Toronto with the Rev. Eric H.F. Law. The author of six groundbreaking books on interculturalism, and an Episcopalian priest, Eric travels extensively offering workshops and lectures for churches in the area of churchwide transformation. » Learn more about Eric's work and the institute that he founded | ||
| For more information on our work, see: www.united-church.ca/justice This newsletter is developed by: | ||
Monday, February 16, 2009
Response to Bishop Bouchard's letter
I have finally found the time to read Bishop Luc Bouchard's letter in detail. While I might contest some of his facts, I cannot deny the fundamental truth of his position. I do have some personal observations.
Anyone who travels through the tar sands region (which I have done on many occasions) is invariably overwhelmed by the magnitude of environmental alteration caused by these operations. I have also seen these operations proceed through their life cycle, passing from muskeg forest to holes in the ground so huge that one is left without adequate adjectives to describe them. As time progresses, the holes are refilled with now clean sand until they are full again, and vegetation is re-planted. In the long run, the muskeg forest is replaced by something more akin to a park or a golf course. Is this good or bad? I don't know.
The tailings ponds are a separate issue, given their toxic content. We have a distressing habit of turning our backs on problems like this once the economic interest is gone.
Much of the oil sands development is now of the in-situ variety. Many of the green house gas and other problems remain, but we don't have the huge excavations to contend with.
As a matter of side interest, these issues were raised at the height of the boom by long time players Suncor and Syncrude. They recognized the unsustainability of then current levels of activity and called for government imposed restrictions on additional development. They were immediately assailed by the rest of industry for wanting to create a monopoly and wanting to keep the good stuff for themselves. The government did nothing at the time.
The good news is that the economy has essentially imposed the moratorium on future development that many have called for. The Alberta government has also released a plan to more carefully guide growth if and when it resumes. At this point, the plan is little more than fine words, but they are the right words. Our challenge will be to keep the pressure on the Alberta government to make good on their plan.
There are several things that Foothills Presbytery might consider doing:
- Our Presbytery could formally and publically support Bishop Bouchard's position.
- We could press both the Alberta and Northwest Conference and the United Church general council to support Bishop Bouchard's position.
I think that supporting an existing position might be more effective than creating our own position as it will give the impression of coalescing public opinion.
- We could draft a letter for individuals and congregations to use in communicating support for a comprehensive and effective plan to control oil sands development.
I am just chucking out these ideas as food for thought and discussion, and I hope they help you with your own understanding of the situation.
Regards,
Ed Anderson
PS; In the interests of full disclosure I must inform everyone that I have been involved with the oil sands industry for most of the past twelve years. I am a geologist and a geophysicist by profession. My job has been to understand and describe the exact physical nature of the oilsands and to identify how they are distributed geographically and how deep they are. I believe in my work, and believe that it supports the greater good of mankind. Like many people, however, I have been greatly disturbed by the overwhelming activity level, and the unrestrained way development has been allowed to progress.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
A letter from Bishop Luc Bouchard
To Foothills Presbytery Strong Public Witness:
http://www.dioceseofstpaul.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=135&Itemid=11
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2009/01/26/edm-cp-bishop-oilsands.html
A Pastoral Letter on The Integrity of Creation and the Athabasca Oil Sands by
†Luc Bouchard Bishop of St. Paul January 25th, 2009
"Faced with the widespread destruction of the environment people
everywhere are coming to understand that we cannot continue to
use the goods of the earth as we have in the past. . . a new ecological
awareness is beginning to emerge - the ecological crisis is a moral issue."
Pope John Paul II, Jan. 1, 1990,
Peace with God the Creator, Peace with all of Creation (par. #'s 1 & 15)
"Alongside the ecology of nature there exists what can be called a
"human" ecology, which in turn demands a "social" ecology. All this means
that humanity, if it truly desires peace, must be increasingly conscious of the
links between natural ecology, or respect for nature, and human ecology.
Experience shows that disregard for the environment
always harms human coexistence and vice versa."
Pope Benedict XVI, Jan. 1, 2007,
The Human Person, the Heart of Peace (par. #8)
Introduction
Dear faithful of the Diocese of St. Paul, the ecological crisis, described above by
Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, is evident in many parts of Canada. Our wasteful consumerist lifestyle, combined with political and industrial short-sightedness and neglect, are damaging our air, land, and water. Personal, social, and political change will be necessary to meet this national challenge.
As the Bishop of the Diocese of St. Paul in north-eastern Alberta, it is my responsibility to provide moral advice and leadership on questions that affect the faithful who live in my diocese. It is therefore impossible for me to ignore the moral problem created by the proposed one hundred and fifty billion dollars oil sands developments in the Municipality of Wood Buffalo because these projects are in "my own backyard," and have aroused strong ethical criticism. In this pastoral letter I will consider this extraordinary and controversial industrial development from a Catholic perspective.
Whenever I drive to Fort McMurray and enter the city on highway 63, I appreciate reading the prominently displayed motto of the Municipality of Wood Buffalo: "We Have the Energy!" The energy is not only in the sands but is also, as the sign implies, in the very hard working people who live in this northern community. The general public has only recently become conscious of Fort McMurray. They do not know of its history as a trading and shipping center, of its connection to the early fur traders, missionaries, and voyageurs, of its First Nations and Metis communities, of the near fifty year old history of the development of the oil sands industry and the risks the pioneers of this industry undertook. It is not generally known that Suncor and Syncrude in the 1980's had contingency plans to shut down, padlock, and mothball their plants due to the then very low price of oil, twelve dollars a barrel!
The people of Fort McMurray have a long history of meeting challenges with hard work and dedication. They have worked through some very economically threatening days while maintaining excellent schools, medical and social services, and a vibrant city government. The oil sands plants have a deserved good reputation for fostering team work and innovation, promoting safety awareness, encouraging positive race relations, supporting the involvement of aboriginal entrepreneurs, advancing the role of women in the work place, and financing research and development in the environmental sciences.(1) Syncrude and Suncor have been very good employers. This letter is not written to criticize the efforts of those good people who call the Municipality of Wood Buffalo home. Their labor created a community where many now retire in order to remain close to their children and grandchildren who also work in the oil industry. The critical points made in this letter are not directed to the working people of Fort McMurray but to oil company executives in Calgary and Houston, to government leaders in Edmonton and Ottawa, and to the general public whose excessive consumerist lifestyle drives the demand for oil.
The letter is in four parts:
· The first section, "Theological Reflection on Creation," presents the
reasons why safeguarding the natural environment is a religious obligation.
· The second section, "The Environmental Impact of Oil Sands Development,"
summarizes the effects that oil sands development has on the air, land,
and water in north-eastern Alberta.
· The third section, "An Action Plan to Safeguard Creation," draws religious
and moral conclusions from the above analysis and recommends actions
that must be considered, if the integrity of the environment is to be
respected.
· The fourth section, "Conclusion and Closing," finishes with thanks and offers
suggestions for a political and personal response to the environmental
challenge of the oil sands.
Theological Reflection on Creation
"God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good." (Gen. 1,31.)
The environmental movement has been steadily gaining in public support and awareness since the publication in 1962 of Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring. This movement has functioned for the Church as a prophetic "sign of the times," causing the Church to re-examine her traditions and theology in the light of documented ecological distress. Since 1965, from all parts of the world, Catholic bishops have written over forty individual pastoral letters addressing the deteriorating quality of the world's air, water, climate, and food. Additionally many joint pastoral letters written by regional and national conferences of bishops as well as several papal documents on the ecological crisis have also been written. As a result of this international theological reflection, a global Catholic moral consensus now exists: the environmental crisis is real and it requires a religious and moral response. In the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published by the Vatican in 2005, a very significant portion of the text, chapter 10, is dedicated to "Safeguarding the Environment."(2)
Environmental ethics is no longer of interest only to the specialist or to an elite group of theologians, but is now of great significance for mainstream Catholic life. I will briefly summarize the major themes presented in the Compendium, in papal encyclicals, in the pastoral letters of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Bishops of Alberta and in the many pastoral letters provided by Catholic bishops throughout the world and then apply these principles to the current development of the oil sands:
Foundational Catholic Theological Principles Supporting Environmental Ethics
• Biblical faith proclaims that creation is good. The earth is presented in the book of
Genesis as being like a garden that is to be tended so as to sustain all of life.(3)
God's covenant with Noah includes all earth's creatures that are later depicted in
the psalms as joining with humanity in a common chorus of praise to God.(4) All
creatures, therefore, are gifts from God to be nurtured and safeguarded with
which we enjoy a type of kinship.(5)
• The earth is humanity's home given as a gift from God. The earth, therefore, is to
be treasured, loved and safeguarded.(6)
• The earth has intrinsic value. Its future is still unfolding and has been part of
the universe from the beginning in the form of a promise; one that Catholics
believe will be completed when all of creation shares in the fulfillment of Christ's
redemption. That is what we pray for when we say, "thy kingdom come." To abuse
creation, therefore, constitutes a lack of faith, a type of despair, or even a
blasphemy.(7)
• Jesus' many references to flowers, birds, crops, seasons, weather, etc. reveal
that nature has for him a revelatory significance.(8) Christians learn God's ways
primarily by reflecting on the Word of God but also by closely observing creation
which in a sacramental like manner, make visible the power and beauty of God.
(9) Spiritual growth results when Christians nurture a sense of "solidarity and
companionship with all creation. " Therefore, when people destroy or damage
creation they are limiting their ability to know and love God.(11)
• Creation has limits, and constitutes in itself an objective order that requires
respect.(12) When creation is threatened with violent disrespect, it is only a
matter of time before this violence spreads resulting in a breakdown of civil peace.
(13) Therefore, when we allow creation to be damaged and degraded we risk
losing our sense of God's natural order and even our sense of God's existence.(14)
• Pope John XXIII in his 1963 encyclical letter Pacem in Terris, was the first Pope to
extend the concept of the common good to a global, international dimension.
Pope John Paul II extended it further to include the common good of creation
when he stated that government is required to work toward a healthy environment,
adequate and safe water, and effective regulation to limit hazardous pollution, and
to insure clean air and safe food. He specifically noted that these goods cannot be
sacrificed simply for the sake of financial gain.(15) The Canadian Catholic bishops
further refined this concept by noting: the "Common good should be conceived as
the sustenance and flourishing of life for all beings and for future
generations."(16) Therefore even great financial gain does not justify serious
harm to the environment.(17)
• When there is uncertainty as to whether a development project seriously
endangers the environment, a pre-cautionary principle utilizing prudence and
caution should guide the decision making process which itself must be
administratively transparent.(18) Therefore, massive projects that clearly
endanger the environment must be approached in a deliberate, open, and
consultative manner.
• "The relationship of indigenous peoples to their land and resources deserves
particular attention, since it is a fundamental expression of their identity."(19)
Therefore industrial projects that directly affect the traditional way of life for First
Nations and Metis people must receive their support and approval.
The Environmental Impact of Oil Sands Development
". . . creation itself will be set free from its bondage. . . we wait for it with patience." (Rom. 8, 21 & 25.)
The above principles are severely challenged by the enormous scope of the proposed oil sands developments and by the environmental damage they will inflict. The Athabasca oil sands deposit represents the second largest known deposit of oil in the world. There are over one trillion barrels of oil embedded in the sands, with an estimated 315 billion barrels being theoretically recoverable. (20)
Because most of the currently proposed oil sands developments are in the region surrounding Fort McMurray and utilize surface mining techniques, (21) this letter will restrict itself to an examination of this industrial process in the Fort McMurray region. The principles I arrive at, however, also apply in general to the Peace River and Cold Lake areas where the in-situ method, in which steam is injected into wells and bitumen is extracted, is more common.
Surface mining of oil sands is a multi-phased, complex operation:
♦ Large tracts of boreal forest are prepared for mining by draining off ground
water, removing the trees and topsoil, and removing the "overburden" of
muskeg, peat, sand, etc. in order to expose the underlying oil sands. To
produce a barrel of oil requires excavating two tons of earth and muskeg. (22)
♦ The oil sands, which have firm sandstone like density, are then surface mined
and crushed into a granular state which is then mixed with water and solvents
and piped to an on-site processing plant. Medium grade oil sands consist of
83% sand, 10% bitumen, 4% water and 3% clay. (23) On average, two tons of
oil sands need to be mined and processed, for each barrel of oil produced. (24)
♦ At the plant site the sand slurry is placed into tanks where it is further mixed
with hot water and sometimes caustic soda. Bitumen, a heavy viscous form of
oil, floats to the surface where it is skimmed off into holding tanks, then diluted
to improve its flow, and finally piped to refineries; the sand settles out to the
bottom of the tank and is removed and returned to the earth, leaving a murky
middle layer (middlings) which constitute a mix of water, silt, clay, traces of
chemicals as well as some bitumen. The middlings are processed to remove as
much water as possible for recycling and then the remaining middlings are
deposited into tailings ponds.
The environmental liabilities that result from the various steps in this process are significant and include:
Destruction of the boreal forest eco-system
All of the oil sands leases slated for development are in terrain classified as
boreal forest. This type of ecological site is environmentally valuable because it
has the unique ability to store large amounts of carbon in its bogs, peat, soil,
and trees. The destruction of boreal forest reduces the earth's capacity to store
carbon and releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere as it is destroyed.
The proposed oil sands projects, if all were to be activated, would remove an area
of boreal forest eco-system equivalent in size to the state of Florida. (25) This
destruction will also have an adverse effect on wild life especially migratory birds,
black bears, and woodlands caribou. When the affected land is reclaimed it is
as it did in its original state as a boreal forest. This is especially true of what
were once wetlands. (26) To date, reclamation is proving to be much more
difficult, slow, and expensive than originally envisioned.
Potential damage to the Athabasca water shed
Two to four and a half barrels of water are required to produce a barrel of oil from
oil sands. (27) This water is used to create the slurry of bitumen and oil that is
heated and processed. Much of this water is recycled. The process used at the
Syncrude oil sands plant recycles water a total of eighteen times and in the past
twenty-five years has reduced water usage per barrel by 60%. (28) Also,
approximately 35% of the water used in processing bitumen is returned to the
water cycle through evaporation. (29) Despite impressive recycling efforts and
improvements, for every barrel of oil produced approximately one barrel of water
is contaminated in the process and deposited into a tailings pond. (30) At,
present, 76% of water allocations from the Athabasca River are for industrial
use. This 3.2 billion barrels a year is slated to rise to 4.2 billion barrels when all
of the proposed plants are operating. Cooperative ventures between industry,
downstream First Nations and Metis communities, and the City of Fort McMurray
are striving to arrive at manageable controls for water usage. But a recent report
concluded that "Over the long term, the Athabasca River may not have sufficient
flows to meet the needs of all the planned mining operations and maintain
adequate instream flows." (31) This possible shortage threatens fish, wildlife,
downstream communities, and transportation in the McKenzie delta. (32) Apart
from the environmental issue of polluting one barrel of water in order to produce a
barrel of oil, the toxicity of the tailings ponds also represent a very long term
threat to the regions aquifers and to the quality of water in the Athabasca River
due to the danger of seepage or a sudden and large catastrophic failure of a
pond's enclosure. (33)
The release of greenhouse gases
Very large amounts of natural gas are required to heat water in order to process
bitumen. By 2011, it is estimated that the then existing oil sands plants will burn
enough natural gas to annually release 80 million tons of CO2 into the
atmosphere. This is far more than all of the CO2 released annually by all of
Canada's passenger cars. (34) The oil sands plants will then account for 15% of
all of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. At present, Alberta produces three
times more per capita greenhouse gas emissions than the Canadian average
and six times the West European average. The good news is that progress is
being made in reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions per barrel and
the concept of carbon sequestering (pumping CO2 into sealed underground
caverns) offers some potential hope in the reduction of emissions. The bad
news is that this reduction will not affect the total amount of emissions because
new oil sands projects and expansions keep raising the total amount of
emissions despite average per barrel reductions.
Heavy consumption of natural gas
To produce a barrel of oil processed from oil sands requires approximately one
thousand cubic feet of natural gas per barrel. It is estimated that as proposed
future oil sands projects come on stream, 20% of Canada's total natural gas
production will be burned in order to extract bitumen. (35) This means that a very
significant amount of relatively clean burning natural gas will be used to produce
much more environmentally damaging oil. Also this high consumption of natural
gas will likely raise its cost thereby promoting the use of coal and/or coal bed
harmful than natural gas. In summary, enormous quantities of clean natural gas
are being burned to produce more environmentally damaging bitumen and the
process is likely to bring about other adverse environmental effects.
The creation of toxic tailings ponds
The "middlings" (water, suspended clay and bitumen) that are deposited into
tailings ponds settle over time into a layer termed "mature fine tailings," which
compact into a stable suspension that cannot at present be further recycled.
This suspension is very toxic containing naphthenic acids, phenolic compounds,
ammonia-ammonium with traces of copper, zinc and iron as well as residual
bitumen and naphtha. (36) Despite a great deal of research and effort, no fully
effective means of neutralizing the toxicity of these tailings ponds has to date
been devised although some slow progress is being recorded. (37) There are
two proposed treatments for these ponds. One involves speeding the settlement
process through the addition of gypsum or other agents and then filling the pond
with tailing sand and further reclaiming it by established practices. The second
method involves turning the final mine pit site into an "end pit lake," in which the
toxic materials remain settled at the bottom and are covered over with fresh,
clean water. If undisturbed, the toxicity remains localized and some aquatic life
can return. The problem with these solutions is that the long term integrity of the
containment structures is unknown. Toxic materials may in time seep into the
Athabasca River polluting it and in succession the Slave River, the McKenzie River
and the Beaufort Sea. (38) If a substantial leak of an end pit lake occurred, the
result would be catastrophic. Tailings ponds will continue to grow in size and
number as the oil sands industry expands. There are now 5.5 billion cubic
meters (175,000,000,000 cubic feet) of impounded tailings. This is slated to
grow to 11 billion cubic meters. (39) This is an almost unimaginably large
amount of toxic material. These toxic ponds will exist long after the plants have
closed and will require one hundred years or more of supervision and
maintenance.
Any one of the above destructive effects provokes moral concern, but it is when the damaging effects are all added together that the moral legitimacy of oil sands production is challenged. An even more alarming level of concern is reached when the scale of proposed future expansions, (a quadrupling of the number of barrels per day from 1.25 to 5 million,) is taken into account. It is then that the full environmental threat of the oil sands and the resulting gravity of the moral issue involved is most deeply felt.
The ecological objections and fears surrounding oil sands development outlined above are not contentious. Both industry and environmentalists, I believe, would agree that the above is a fair summary of the situation. The concerns environmentalists express are highly credible. The proposed additional oil sands projects are moving forward based on the confidence that technological solutions will be found to these concerns. This drive to development ignores the fact that forty years of research into the oil sands, while it has led to a substantial reduction in some forms of pollution, especially air pollution and water usage, does not at present hold out the hope of reducing environmental harm to an acceptable level primarily because of the enormous scale and rapid development of the projects.
The moral problem does not lie in government and industry's lack of a sincere desire to find a solution; the moral problem lies in their racing ahead and aggressively expanding the oil sands industry despite the fact that serious environmental problems remain unsolved after more than forty years of on-going research. The moral question has been left to market forces and self-regulation to resolve when what is urgently required is moral vision and leadership.
I am forced to conclude that the integrity of creation in the Athabasca Oil Sands is clearly being sacrificed for economic gain. The proposed future development of the oil sands constitutes a serious moral problem. Environmentalists and members of First Nations and Metis communities who are challenging government and industry to adequately safeguard the air, water, and boreal forest eco-systems of the Athabasca oil sands region present a very strong moral argument, which I support. The present pace and scale of development in the Athabasca oil sands cannot be morally justified. Active steps to alleviate this environmental damage must be undertaken.
An Action Plan to Safeguard Creation
"You have given them dominion over the works of your hands." (Ps. 8, 6.)
When environmental and moral concerns are raised about the oil sands, they are politely received by government and industry, but are considered to be neither economically nor politically realistic. Environmental and religious objections are dismissed as too idealistic or negative, as minority voices which are unable to rally sufficient public support that would politically justify slowing the pace of development.
I believe public opinion on environmental issues is rapidly changing. Many now in the United States and Canada want government action to protect the environment. Government and industry will be forced to recognize that oil sands development should not proceed until the environment can be adequately protected. Environmentalists have created a list of requirements that industry should meet if sound and sustainable development is to proceed:
o The integrity of the Athabasca water shed must be safeguarded. This includes
not only the Athabasca River but the tributaries and ground waters within the
surrounding water shed. The extraction of water from the Athabasca River
must be regulated to insure the viability of the downstream First Nation
communities living near Lake Athabasca and surrounding the McKenzie Delta.
(40) The approved use of water removed from the Athabasca should take into
account the probability of low flow conditions resulting from periodic drought
and the transportation needs of First Nations people in the McKenzie
delta. (41) A very prudent pre-cautionary approach should surround water
issues. (42)
o How much concentrated toxicity is manageable? Who is responsible for the
long term (over one hundred years) supervision of these ponds? How much
money is being put aside to insure this liability? The question as to whether it
is ethical to create such enormous amounts of essentially poisonous materials
with no known way to detoxify them needs to be addressed? A rational limit
must be placed on the size and quantity of tailings ponds.
o It is not acceptable to damage the environment to create oil if the oil is
wasted. A national program of energy conservation that includes ambitious
auto fuel efficiency standards should be initiated to reduce Canada's use of oil
and to promote the development of alternative energy sources.
o Any proposed oil sands development must insure that the traditional way of life
of First Nation and Metis communities is not adversely affected. The treaty
rights of First Nations people to hunt wildlife and to fish have to be
respected. (43)
o Hedging on our national commitment to reduce greenhouse gases is damaging
to Canada's reputation and is damaging to the environment. Future oil sands
developments must be paced so as to allow Canada to meet its international
commitments. (44)
o The enormous amounts of greenhouse gases created by the oil sands
processing plants must be offset by national reductions.
o Clear cutting of vast areas of forest should be minimized so as to allow the
forest to remain connected with interlocking groundwater, bogs, and wetlands.
(45) A land use plan should be created to protect the boreal forest eco-
system. (46)
o The Municipality of Wood Buffalo should be provided with adequate social
resources and infrastructure in order to meet the educational, health, and
social services requirements to service a large and a transient population. (47)
o Foreign workers must be protected from exploitation and Alberta labor
standards must not be lowered or compromised.
o Sufficient revenue for full reclamation has to be assured and in place before
development proceeds. The cost of this reclamation must be arrived at by a
public and transparent process. At present, the monies allocated for this
purpose do not appear to be at all realistic. (48) These reclamation amounts
cannot be dependent upon future revenue from the proposed plants.
Assurance has to be iron-clad that reclamation monies or bonds are in place
even if the oil plants were to suddenly fold or face bankruptcy. The public
should not be faced with a reclamation bill for the Athabasca oil sands as
happened with Nova Scotia's Sydney tar pond. Future liabilities for the
reclamation of the boreal forest eco-system, the tailings ponds, ground water
and the Athabasca water-shed area must be covered by full cost bonding. (49)
I believe that a serious commitment on the part of government and industry must be made to satisfying the above requirements before any further oil sands plants or leases are considered for approval.
Conclusion and Closing
"The earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord." (Ps. 33, 5.)
I repeat my appreciation to the people of Fort McMurray and to the parish of St. John the Baptist, as well as to the First Nations and Metis people of Fort McKay, Janvier, Conklin, Chard and Fort Chipewyan for their faith witness of family life, hard work, and generosity as well as a genuine love for the Athabasca region and a deep concern for its natural integrity. I trust that this pastoral letter will encourage them in their efforts to protect the environment.
Also I wish to thank the efforts of ecologists working for the oil industry as well as the ongoing work of environmentalists and others associated with the Sierra Club, the Pembina Institute, and the Parkland Institute, as well as the good work done by consortiums of government, industry and environmentalists in the Cumulative Effects Management Association, the Wood Buffalo Environmental Association, and the Regional Aquatics Monitoring Program. The people of the Diocese of St. Paul are deeply indebted for their dedication.
I hope you the faithful of the Diocese of St. Paul will contact your Member of the Legislative Assembly and Member of Parliament and tell them that you want responsible industrial development which means one in which the environment is in fact respected and protected. I hope that those of you who work in the oil sands industry or related fields will raise this issue in the workplace and will do whatever lies within your field of responsibility to safeguard the integrity of creation.
Finally, in closing, I wish to share with you a most beautiful insight on the relationship between religious faith and the environment that was given in an address at the Vatican by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on October 18th, 2008 during the recent Synod of Bishops, "On the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church" which I was privileged to attend. Patriarch Bartholomew said:
The entire world is a prologue to the Gospel of John. And when the Church
fails to recognize the broader, cosmic dimensions of God's Word, narrowing its
concerns to purely spiritual matters, then it neglects its mission to implore God
for the transformation - always and everywhere, "in all places of His
dominion" -of the whole polluted cosmos. . . All genuine "deep ecology" is,
therefore, inextricably linked with deep theology: "Even a stone", writes Basil
the Great, "bears the mark of God's Word. This is true of an ant, a bee and a
mosquito, the smallest of creatures. For He spread the wide heavens and laid
the immense seas; and He created the tiny hollow shaft of the bee's sting."
Recalling our minuteness in God's wide and wonderful creation only underlines
our central role in God's plan for the salvation of the whole world. (50)
Fraternally yours in Christ,
† Luc Bouchard
Bishop of St. Paul in Alberta
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