Environmentalists say in-situ mines result in habitat fragmentation on the surface through seismic lines and roads to wellheads. But their most significant impact results from heating the bitumen, usually through steam.
OTTAWA — The federal government has confirmed it is backing away from assessing the environmental impact of new oil sands projects, one day after acknowledging it won’t come close to meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets. A final list of the types of projects that will require a federal environmental assessment was released Friday. The list contains no mention of in-situ oil sands mines, which are expected to be the industry’s most common type of development in the future.
“This is the largest single source of (greenhouse gas) growth in the country and yet the federal government is not going to be playing a role there,” said Keith Stewart of Greenpeace.
On Thursday, Environment Canada released a report concluding that Canada is on pace to get halfway to its 2020 emissions target under the Copenhagen Accord.
In-situ mines involve heating underground bitumen deposits enough to soften them so they can be pumped up.
In some ways, they are considered more environmentally friendly. They require no vast open pits or lake-sized tailings ponds of toxic water.
Environmentalists have pointed out they still result in habitat fragmentation on the surface through seismic lines and roads to wellheads. But their most significant impact results from heating the bitumen, usually through steam. Generating that steam burns a lot of natural gas, increasing the carbon intensity of the resulting barrel of oil.
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