Alberta's oilsands reclamation bonding 'unfit for purpose,' researchers say
Alberta's oilsands reclamation bonding 'unfit for purpose,' researchers say
In the oil-rich province, companies are required to return mine sites to their previous condition after projects are no longer in service.
cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/5492769
“The AER estimates over $45 billion in remediation and reclamation liabilities in the oilsands. This number may be a dramatic underestimate, with figures in leaked, official presentations suggesting as much as $130 billion in liabilities covered by less than $2 billion in security deposits,” University of Calgary School of Public Policy researchers Martin Olszynski, Andrew Leach, Drew Yewchuk wrote in a recent paper.
To put this in perspective, Giant Mine and Faro mine, which are much, much smaller mines, have cleanup bills around 4-5 billion.
Albertans have gone all in on difficult to extract oil that is sold at discount... On a market that's controlled by a cartel [OPEC].