The Business Case
Petro-Canada’s Fort Hills Oil Sands mining operation is expected to mine more than four billion barrels of bitumen over the next three to four decades, with rates of up to 280,000 barrels of synthetic crude oil per day. In order to address the obvious environmental concerns surrounding the project, Petro-Canada is committed to sustaining the environmental integrity of the area, leaving as small an environmental footprint as possible and providing offsets to compensate for permanently impacted areas. An environmental protection plan will ensure this is the case. Petro-Canada will not mine a drop of oil within the fen complex until the mining and protection plan is completed and approved, a fact that will support the company’s license to operate in the area and throughout the country.
Petro-Canada is one of Canada’s largest oil and gas companies, operating in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry.
The Athabasca oil sands deposit is situated within the boreal forest that covers a large swath of northern North America and is one of the world’s largest intact ecosystems. The interconnected forest, lakes and wetlands provide habitat for a wide variety of wildlife, including migratory birds, caribou, bears and wolves. The McClelland Lake Wetlands are situated next to Petro-Canada’s planned Fort Hills Mine. The Fort Hills Oils Sands mining operation is the largest capital project Petro-Canada has ever undertaken and is one of the largest in Canadian history.
The McClelland Lake Wetlands Complex includes an upper “poor-fen” that feeds into a patterned fen and subsequently drains into McClelland Lake. A patterned fen is an unusual wetland created over thousands of years as peat ridges and pools form a fish-scale pattern on the land’s surface.
Petro-Canada’s unique challenge at Fort Hills is to mine the oil sand deposits under the upper fen while maintaining the ridges, pools, flora and fauna of the patterned fen. Additionally the operations will draw water from the Athabasca River. Petro-Canada shares the concern that regional aquatic ecosystems may be stressed during periods of low seasonal flows, and the company is working with key stakeholders to develop a Northern water strategy.
As water is vital for any wetland, Petro- Canada has also begun a comprehensive monitoring program, in conjunction with the University of Alberta, to track groundwater flows into the fen. Regulators, First Nations groups, and other stakeholders have joined with Petro-Canada to oversee this research. The Complex will not be impacted by mining for at least 10 years, but Petro- Canada is getting a head start — monitoring animals and plants so that the ecological integrity of this important wetland is better understood and can be preserved.
The Fort Hills Mine will impact fish in Fort Creek, a tributary of the Athabasca River. In response, Petro-Canada will construct a 15-hectare lake to offset or compensate for this. This initiative follows the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Policy for the Management of Fish Habitat that established the goals of “net gain” and “no net loss”, as principles promoting the retention of existing productive capacity within fish habitats. The constructed lake will be stocked with a variety of relocated fish including species desirable to First Nations, such as lake whitefish and burbot.
In addition to the construction of the No Net Loss Lake, Petro-Canada has also initiated a project to transplant rare insectivorous pitcher plants to the protected part of the fen.
By combining lessons from past and ongoing research with proven innovative solutions, Petro-Canada is confident in its ability to furnish a post-mining landscape that addresses local stakeholders and the environment.
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