“We should not develop the unconventional fossil fuels. Those fuels – coal and tar sands – are so dirty and have such large regional negative consequences that it only makes sense to leave them in the ground,” says scientist Dr. James Hansen
“I would seriously consider a moratorium on all tailings ponds until impact is understood,” says “Avatar’ Hollywood Director James Cameron
On Tuesday, October 5th, the ERCB Hearing on Total’s proposed Joslyn North Mine project re-adjourned, this time at the Coast Edmonton Hotel East in Sherwood Park near Edmonton.
For one thing the location is largely inaccessible to the public, located in the heart of upgraders and right next door to Total’s office. Also, the Hearings were located in the ‘Empire Room’ of the Coast Hotel, so very befitting to a packed room full of lawyers and suit-and-ties representing the pro-mining cheerleaders of industry and government.
The first day in Sherwood Park began with Karin Buss from Ecojustice opening as legal counsel on behalf of OSEC (Oil Sands Environmental Coalition). Then it was time for OSEC’s presentation, beginning with Simon Dyer and Nathan Lemphers from the Pembina Institute. The third expert witness was famous scientist Dr. James Hansen.
Simon Dyer’s presentation was very clear, complete with a visual powerpoint presentation. Dyer stated the Total’s assessment, or lack thereof, contained faulty reasoning such as lack of a wetlands policy and ‘terrestrial mitigation’ which would result in the irreversible loss of peatlands, overall creating a negative effect on the land, water and economy in the region. Total also did not include two other Tar Sands mining companies’ operations in a cumulative impact analysis nor did they meet the terms of reference requirement, leaving the panel with insufficient data. Dyer was clear in that the Joslyn Mine is not in the public’s interest and should be denied by the Panel for these reasons.
Nathan Lemphers began his presentation identifying that Total lacks any organized or realistic contingency plan in case of a breach in the 12.5 billion litres of toxic tailings it will create each year, something the governments were going to phase out, right? Wasn’t that what ‘Directive 074′ was about? Lemphers’ research also illustrated that major tailings breaches do and continue to occur, with major breaches happening two to three times per year and minor breaches occurring over 25 times per year on average. The inefficient ‘reclamation’ plans are far too costly and do not compensate for the amount of displacement it will result in. Total’s reclamation liabilities are estimated at over $12.5 billion as more than 1,000 people live directly downstream from Total’s proposed tailing waste site.
Next up was famous climate change scientist Dr. James Hansen, who began his presentation identifying that global warming is occurring at a rapid pace and is directly related to the carbon dioxide emissions that human industrial activity is putting into the air. He also mentioned that the Arctic sea ice continue to recede and are at their lowest levels ever. Also, in Glacier National Park, which people in Alberta depend on for fresh water, will have no glaciers in the next 20-30 years if the tar sands continue at the pace they are on right now. People will have to rename the park if there are no more glaciers left. Hansen continues that the tar sands mining is illogical and we cannot continue to burn coal or develop unconventional fossil fuels such as tar sands and tar shale. Hansen was very clear that if business-as-usual is continued with tar sands operations, it will drive a significant amount of species to extinction, increasingly add more toxic carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere contributing to global warming, and will leave young people and future generations with a desolate planet. Hansen concluded calling tar sands ‘fools gold’ as a short-term fix for mining companies. He emphasized that these problems of carbon dioxide emissions are only solved by phasing out coal mining and simply leaving tar sands and tar shale in the ground.
After the lunch break Rusty Miller presented as prosecutor defending Total. Miller cross-examined Simon Dyer of the Pembina Institute and systematically attacked OSEC at almost every argument, largely on minor technicalities. MIller then cross-examined Nathan Lemphers of the Pembina Institute and was successful in pressuring Lemphers into making a miscalculation on a mathematrical question that was corrected on the spot. This entire process was overly legalistic as it was very clear Total is trying to cover their tracks in case of environmental, economical and social disasters that it’s Joslyn mine are likely to create, as was very clearly presented in the evidence from OSEC’s expert witnesses.
Hansen was cross-examined as well, but at only a minor level in comparison to Dyer and Lemphers. Hansen’s rebuttals also redirected Total’s legal defense back to the bigger picture of tar sands extraction and its overall contribution to greenhouse gas emissions.
After the next break it was time for Sierra Club Prairie’s team of expert witnesses, including Stephen Hazell, Petr Cizek and Dr. Bill Donahue. Petr Cizek began by stating that a request for information access, GIS data in particular, from Total was dismissed and denied as irrelevant. Despite the importance of having this information in preparing a cumulative environmental impact assessment, Total did not comply. Cizek replied to Total’s lawyer that in his previous history of requesting information from Tar Sands companies, Imperial Oil for example was accommodated with no problem.
Dr. Donahue took to the stand today – stay tuned for an update by Stephen Hazell.
These facts speak for itself, and for Total, the truth hurts:
If approved Total’s Joslyn Mine would spew 1.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, release 12.5 billion litres of toxic tailings waste, remove and pollute up to 22 billion litres of fresh water from the Athabasca River each year, in addition to destroying 7,000 hectares of boreal forest — equivalent to 13,000 football fields. Most of the money Total would generate by selling the bitumen would flow to shareholders outside of Alberta.
Check out this visual for the amount of new toxic tailings the Joslyn Mine would create if it is to be approved – 60, 200 litre rainbarrels every 30 seconds! -
