Image Credit: The Canadian Press

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Decision to scrap huge oil sands mine is no cause for tears

Feb 26, 2020 | 5:05 AM

KAMLOOPS — WEEP NOT for the Teck Resources Frontier oil sands mine. Reasons for cancellation of the $20-billion project near Fort McMurray and not far from Wood Buffalo National Park are as plentiful as the critics who want to waggle their fingers.

Was it oil prices? Was it our complicated and slow regulatory regime? Was it the rail blockades? Was it the conflict between environment and resource development? Or a general chill on investing in oil sands projects?

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and federal Conservative leader Andrew Scheer blame it on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the blockades. Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley blames it on Kenney.

With a climate of such national divisiveness it’s no wonder investors would get cold feet. The loss of several thousand jobs is unfortunate, especially for the many indigenous communities that would have benefitted, but the demise of this one project has a silver lining, environmentally speaking.

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The mine — which would have been one of the largest in the tar sands — would have produced up to 260,000 barrels of bitumen a day and four million tonnes of greenhouse emissions per year. It would have covered 292 square kilometres in northeast Alberta.

The mine would have stripped 14,000 hectares of wetland, 3,000 hectares of peatland and 3,000 hectares of old-growth forest. A joint review panel of the federal and Alberta governments found the project would have significant and permanent impacts on the environment, citing carbon pollution and loss of fish, migratory bird and wildlife habitat, including that of the scarce wood buffalo.

The mine would operate for 41 years. That’s a long stretch of environmental degradation.

The days of oil are numbered. In the years to come, we’ll be thankful for Teck’s decision to pull out.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and newspaper editor. He writes five commentaries a week for CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.