Athabasca safe for oilsands project, EUB says

Alberta's energy regulator believes a new oilsands development north of Fort McMurray will not harm the Athabasca River.

Energy and Utilities Board member Davis Sheremata said the effects from developing the Kearl Oilsands Project will be negligible because Imperial Oil will need just over two per cent of the average annual river flow.

"Their design includes the ability to store up to 30 days of water, which would make it possible for them to store water and not have to draw from the river during periods of low flow," Sheremata said.

The $7 billion project, which includes four open pit mines, bitumen extraction and tailings ponds, will use huge amounts of water from the Athabasca River, and that worries the Mikisew Cree,wholive just downstream from the site.

The board said was impressed with Imperial's water usage plans.

But Dan Woynillowicz, an environmental policy analystwith the Pembina Institute, was not convinced: "What happens when you enter a period of time where you might have more than 30 consecutive days where the flows are so low that any withdrawals could pose a really serious risk to the health of the Athabasca River?"

What is long overdue,Woynillowicz said, is a plan from the Alberta government to protect the Athabasca.One was promised a few years ago, he said, but it has yet to be unveiled.