Upgraders No Sound Investment

Canadian oil sands: A chorus of concern for the environment

By Bernard Simon in Toronto

Published: June 30 2008 00:33 | Last updated: June 30 2008 00:33

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Whenever residents of Edmonton, Alberta flush their toilets after 2012, some of their sewage will find its way to a Petro-Canada plant northeast of the city that converts bitumen-like oil sands into crude oil.

Petro-Canada has promised that the first phase of the Fort Hills Sturgeon upgrader, consuming 15.8m litres of water a day, will not only run entirely on treated wastewater, but will then send the used water back to Edmonton for further recycling.

The Fort Hills initiative is one of many environmentally friendly processes companies are trumpeting in response to a widening chorus of concern about the damage caused by oil sands extraction and upgrading on water supplies, wildlife habitat and the atmosphere.

Area residents voice upgrader concerns

Sturgeon County upgrader plans cause frustration for heartland farmers, residents

By Conal MacMillan
Record Staff
Friday June 27, 2008

Strathcona County resident Maureen Chichak was among several industrial heartland residents who joined together to form Concerned Citizens for Responsible Development, announced a press conference last week in Edmonton. Conal MacMillan/Fort Record

Over 100 residents and activists began airing their concerns about a proposed Sturgeon County upgrader Monday as a public hearing into the Petro Canada Fort Hills project got underway in Fort Saskatchewan.

The capacity crowd at the Ross Creek Room in the Lakeview Inn and Suites spilled into the hallway as the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) started its public hearing into the upgrader project planned for a site north of Fort Saskatchewan.

Greenpeace and Sierra Club activists greeted the gathering outside with “Stelmach’s backyard = Cancer alley” signs and a Premier Ed Stelmach mask.

Showdown in Cancer Alley

Showdown in Upgrader Alley

Proliferation of oil-processing plants threatens our quality of life, say area farmers and residents
Published June 26, 2008  by Angela Brunschot in News

Kevin Ma

Maureen Chichak lives near the Scotford upgrader in Fort Saskatchewan worries about how it has affected her health.

As Wayne Groot describes his concerns about the proposed upgraders that could one day surround his potato farm northeast of Edmonton, his eight-year-old son Luis runs into the kitchen and points out the window. Two moose are running across their lawn, and Groot pauses and smiles before picking up the conversation again. The proximity to nature is one of the many things Groot cherishes about farm life.

However, he may soon have to leave the area and his business. He’s worried about pollution from the proposed developments known as “Upgrader Alley,” a 300-square-kilometre area spanning four different municipalities northeast of Edmonton. By 2022, the industrial area could eventually include as many as nine upgraders, the plants that transform bitumen from the oilsands into synthetic crude.

Residents speak out over latest project in Alberta’s busy ‘upgrader alley’

Alaska Highway News
Friday, June 20, 2008
Page: B2
Section: Finance
Dateline: EDMONTON
Source: Alaska Highway News

Landowners and residents are speaking out against the latest in a growing list of upgrader projects for an area northeast of Edmonton known as Upgrader Alley.

People in Sturgeon County are intervening in provincial hearings to review the $14-billion Petro-Canada (TSX:PCA) upgrader project.

Anne Brown and Maureen Chichak both know several people in the area who have cancer, including two farmers who both died of lung cancer even though neither man smoked.

The women say they fear the already tainted air in their rural community will become even worse with more upgraders.

Landowners raise concerns about Edmonton-area upgraders

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Anne Brown, who lives in the area northeast of Edmonton known as “upgrader alley,” says many people call the region “cancer alley” because of the number of people who have fallen ill.(CBC)

Uncredited image

Shell Canada’s Scotford refinery, the first of the Edmonton-area upgrader plants, has been in operation since 1983.(CBC)

CBC.CA News
Section: Edmonton
Broadcast Date: Friday, June 20, 2008
Time: Thu June 19 18:34:02 2008 EDT
Network: CBC

A group of landowners and farmers northeast of Edmonton spoke out Thursday about the growing number of heavy oil processing plants proposed for the area known as “upgrader alley.”

They are worried what the expansion of the upgrader industry will mean to the air and water quality in the area, and how the plants will affect the health of their families. Upgraders transform bitumen found in Alberta’s oilsands into synthetic oil.