Regulators approve third large oilsands project in four months
Imperial Oil's $7-billion Kearl oilsands mine received conditional approval from regulators Tuesday, making it the third massive new oilsands project to get the go-ahead in the last four months.
Imperial celebrated the "key approval" by provincial and federal regulators, but environmentalists said it proves no attention is being paid to the cumulative effects of oilsands development in northern Alberta.
The Kearl project, 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray, will include four open-pit mines and related facilities to extract the gluey bitumen. It is expected to employ 2,000 people.
The first phase of the project aims at producing 100,000 barrels daily, with a potential to triple that output with expansions.
Imperial and its parent company ExxonMobil currently have no plans to build a new upgrader in Alberta, despite the province's aim to keep more of the value-added processing work.
The approval, following three weeks of public hearings last November, imposed 17 conditions on Imperial Oil, relating to environmental and technical aspects of the project.
The panel also made eight recommendations to the federal government dealing with environmental issues such as water management and emissions technology.
It submitted 20 additional recommendations to the Alberta government, urging the province to address the lack of land, infrastructure and social resources in the booming Fort McMurray region.
The Kearl approval was released one day after the Alberta government unveiled plans to spend nearly $400 million on critical growth issues like health care, housing and water treatment in Fort McMurray.
Late last year, regulators gave the thumbs-up to Suncor Energy's $7-billion Voyageur oilsands expansion and to the $12.8-billion Athabasca oilsands expansion owned by Shell Canada, Western Oil Sands and Chevron Canada.
All the projects faced significant objections from First Nations, the regional municipality and environmental groups, said Dan Woynillowicz from the Pembina Institute, an environmental policy think-tank.
"And yet we've seen all three of those rubber-stamped, with nothing really new or innovative in terms of the conditions," Woynillowicz said.
The Pembina Institute said Imperial's Kearl project is not in the public interest because of the environmental damage and the lack of local value-added plans.
"This project is just about getting the bitumen out of the ground as fast as it can, with no focus on quality," Woynillowicz said.
"I think what this really illustrates for us is that the system for making decisions about oilsands projects is broken and it's not serving the best interests of either Albertans or Canadians."