History of environmental contamination by oil sands extraction

History of environmental contamination by oil sands extraction.

T he extraction and processing of Canada’s massive oil sands in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta have been marked by an ongoing controversy about the nature and extent of associated environmental impacts. Impacts include habitat destruction and fragmentation by surface mining and tailings disposal, depletion of water resources, greenhouse gas and chemical emissions, and the impacts of e...

The Viability of Oil Extraction from Trinidad Tar Sands by Radio Frequency Heating: A Simulation Approach

Trinidad has tar sand resources of about 2 billion barrels of oil on land in the Parrylands/Guapo and Brighton areas. With an oil price of over USD 25 per barrel, the commercial extraction of oil from Trinidad tar sands is viable, but it requires a careful study. The relatively small extent of this tar sand (about 10,000 acres and with depths varying from surface to less than 500 feet) and with...

Valuable oil sands environmental research raises several questions.

Kurek et al. (1) provide a valuable contribution concerning oil sands development. The authors should also be congratulated for not drawing irresponsible inferences about human cancer risks from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and for accurately reporting substantially lower PAH contamination of sediments for their study lakes vs. popular Alberta recreational lakes:Wabamun, Pigeon, and ...

Nuclear Technology & Canadian Oil Sands Integration of Nuclear Power with In-Situ Oil Extraction

This report analyzes the technical aspects and the economics of utilizing nuclear reactor to provide the energy needed for a Canadian oil sands extraction facility using SteamAssisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) technology. The energy from the nuclear reactor would replace the need for energy supplied by natural gas, which is currently burned at these facilities. There are a number of concerns surr...

Oil Sands Contaminants