The Athabasca River

[Jacob]

How important is the Athabasca River in Alberta? How much do local communities rely on it for drinking water etc?

I.e., I'm wondering how big a deal this is (or is not): http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/oilsands-study-confirms-tailings-found-in-groundwater-river-1.2545089

New federal research has confirmed that water from vast oilsands tailings ponds is leaching into groundwater and seeping into the Athabasca River.

Previous studies using models have estimated the leakage at 6.5 million litres a day from a single pond.

But the Environment Canada study used new technology to actually fingerprint the mix of groundwater chemicals in the area.

It found the mix of chemicals from tailings is different from that in naturally occurring bitumen deposits.

That tailings mix, which contains toxic chemicals, is found in groundwater around mining operations, but not in areas away from development.

It's also found in groundwater just underneath the Athabasca River.

The study, conducted under a new federal-provincial oilsands monitoring program, was accepted for publication in late January by the journal Environmental Science and Technology.

[Maximus]

How important is the Athabasca River in Alberta? How much do local communities rely on it for drinking water etc?

Not much until you get to Lake Athabasca I don't think. Maybe some native settlements. Still not good.

[Neil]

While it covers a pretty vast area of the province, I wonder which sites are contaminated, and if the contamination is even serious.  If it's up north, or the contamination is slight, I'd say it's just the cost of doing business.

[Monoriu]

Is it a big deal?  People don't drink directly from the river.  All water is thoroughly treated before use. 

[Razgovory]

I always thought Athabasca was a cool name.  I do remember reading that the Athabasca language is related to some in languages in the American West and possibly Siberia.

[Viking]

Important points

1. Process chemical traces found near process locations. Not surprising, not good, but still nothing drastic.
2. Natural bitumen found everywhere. Not surprising, this is to be expected.


Don't mix up bitumen (an all natural product of nature) and process chemicals.

[Barrister]

Is it a big deal?  People don't drink directly from the river.  All water is thoroughly treated before use.

There are creatures other than people that drink from the Athabasca River.

And by the way Ft McMurray gets its water from the Athabasca River.

It's hard to say how significant this is.  The news reports I've seen haven't said what concentratins thesechemicals are at, or what risks they might impose.

I'm generally pretty pro-development, but I certainly wouldn't just write off any environmental damage as "the cost of doing business".

[Capetan Mihali]

There are creatures other than people

  Source?

[Malthus]

Is it a big deal?  People don't drink directly from the river.  All water is thoroughly treated before use.

There are creatures other than people that drink from the Athabasca River.

And by the way Ft McMurray gets its water from the Athabasca River.

It's hard to say how significant this is.  The news reports I've seen haven't said what concentratins thesechemicals are at, or what risks they might impose.

I'm generally pretty pro-development, but I certainly wouldn't just write off any environmental damage as "the cost of doing business".

Agreed. There is no way of meaningfully responding without knowing how harmful the level of exposure from leaked chemicals actually is.