This article originally appeared on the Pembina Institute website. This is part 2 of a series on the last 50 years of the oilsands industry. Read part 1 here.
The sheer size and scope of Alberta’s some 20 oilsands tailings ponds is unprecedented for any industry in the world.
According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, one of these ponds — the Mildred Lake Settling Basin — is the world’s largest dam by volume of construction material.
Since oilsands mining operations started in 1967, 1.3 trillion litres of fluid tailings has accumulated in these open ponds on (Read more…) Northern Alberta landscape. This is enough toxic waste to fill 400,000 Olympic swimming pools.