Surface water in Alberta oil sands contains high levels of dissolved metals, report finds by Emma Graney, Dec 19, 2025, The Globe and Mail
Surface water across Alberta’s oil sands contains high levels of dissolved metals such as arsenic, cadmium, iron and aluminum, according to the first comprehensive assessment of the region’s water quality.
The report by the Oil Sands Monitoring Program, released Thursday afternoon, concluded that in-depth water analyses didn’t show “obvious widespread impacts”
Jesus Fucking Roosevelt Christ! Of course they won’t be “obvious!” Most toxic contaminants in ground, surface and tap water and in Alberta’s massive deadly tarshit waste lakes put there by oil and gas companies and frac’ers are invisible the naked eye which is why samples are supposed to be taken accurately, with chain of custody, and analyzed at reputable labs (but practically none of those exist in Canada, they’re mostly controlled by Nazi UCP and their masters, rich polluters)linked to oil sands activity. But, it said, the results highlight areas that “may need further investigation,” particularly where levels “flag potential concerns for different components of human or ecological health.”
The objective of the report was not to evaluate risk to humans, wildlife or aquatic species. Of course not, that would end up demanding the fucking tarshit operations be shut down for killing and or sickening too many Rather, it was to compare water quality between monitoring sites across the oil sands region and report on environmental conditions.
Ottawa releases more stringent methane rules for oil and gas producers, landfills
U.S. startup partners with Canadian producer on carbon capture study in Alberta oil sands
Twenty groups participate in the Oil Sands Monitoring Program, including Indigenous communities, several oil sands producers, federal and provincial regulators and the University of Calgary.all of those are controlled totally by polluters, most of them American Nazi companies; many of the Indigenous are too (via bribes and lies). None in this program are trustworthy
The report’s aim was to provide information to help polluters, our non regulating pollution and law violation enabling AER and UPC, and feds, let tarshitters dump their deadly waste directly into the Athabasca watershed so that they can pollute much more, and make more billions while they profit rape billions without cleaning up and helpunderstand the current state of water quality and quantity in the oil sands area, and how much it has been changing over time and from one place to another.
Its conclusions come from various indicators of water quality taken at 157 monitoring sites across the region. It compared surface water quality data against guidelines, and examined trends of what has been found in the water, and where.
The report used data gathered over three time periods to help gain a clearer picture of long- versus short-term changes – 1977 to 1997, 1998 to 2022, and the full data record.
In all, the analysis considered more than 2.5 million individual measurements.
Water quality “didn’t show a consistent pattern of change when comparing sites upstream and downstream of oil sands activities on the Athabasca River,” the report said.Of course not! Pollution is never consistent. FFS. What a bunch of fucking clowns.
However, some of the smaller tributaries that flow into the Athabasca – especially those in the surface mining area – showed “some increases that may require further investigation.”
The Muskeg River was a striking example. Water taken from the river “stood out with more parameters increasing over time,” the report said, including a rise in metals and ions such as nickel and sulphate.
Where exceedances did happen, they mostly involved metals, especially cadmium, iron, manganese, aluminum and arsenic, the report found.
Those can occur naturally in the environment – particularly in the oil sands region, which is steeped in crude – but high levels can also point to human activity.Ya, always fucking infer humanity’s horrific health harming oil and gas industry pollution is nature’s fault. Douche fuckers in the pollution enabling program, and the fucking tarshit polluter-lover Globe and Mail
Measurements of aluminum, cadmium, iron, mercury and dissolved oxygen were commonly twice the level set out in guidelines to protect aquatic life. Values for total cadmium, thallium and uranium were two orders of magnitude above their guidelines for human health, though they occurred rarely.Nice, so the moose and Indigenous will only die rarely, after they’re dead.
“More work is needed to understand whether the sources of these metals are natural or industrial, both upstream and downstream of oil sands operations, particularly in the Steepbank and Ells River,” the report said.Gotta blame Nature, that’s what the fucking corrupt shits at AER, UCP, and involved in the “Monitoring” program, do best. The “regulators” and Alberta gov’t also blamed and keep blaming the harmed for the frac industry’s pollution and crimes, and for deadly sour gas spewing into water and air, sickening many.
It also examined how water flows have changed in the region.
While it found no consistent patterns between changes upstream and downstream, there has been a rise since 1990 in the number of days when water levels fall below navigation indicators, especially in the fall.JFC! Since when has nature ever been “consistent” notably in the last few decades with extremes in droughts, heavy rainfall events, wildfires destroying massive tracts of forest, caused by human pollution and over population caused climate change
“Further study is needed to understand what’s causing these changes, whether it’s climate, seasonal rainfall and temperature, or human activity,” the report said.NO! Further study is not needed. Enough studies have been done to prove how toxic Alberta’s tarshit industry is, surface mining and SAGD. Shut it the fuck down. That’s all this disgusting monitoring group ever does, is drag their corrupt pollution enabling asses and conclude more more more more study, so as to let the tarshitters keep shitting on humans, all other life on earth, and destroy the planet’s livability.
Rebecca Schulz, Alberta’s Environment Minister, said in a statement that the findings reflect the province’s commitment to transparency, scientific excellence and environmental leadership.Ya, committed to, but not to actually doing what she keeps saying they are committed to!
JFC! What a foul lying douche Rebecca Schultz is, her husband Cole Schultz lobbies the fucking corrupt UCP for polluters!
The only excellence and “leadership” in UCP and all past Alberta gov’ts, including the corrupt frac-subsidizing Notley NDP, is enabling law violations and massive amounts of deadly air, land and water pollution by mostly Nazi American oil and gas companies
“Albertans can be confident that our water is safe and that our energy sector is committed to responsible development,” she said.
Ya, Ms. Commitment promises polluters are committed to not polluting and responsible, while every day, proving they are anything but.
Below are photos of my water, “nicely safely” frac’d and contaminated, by Encana/Ovintiv, and enabled by AER and Albeta gov’t you douche fucking liar.
Not only is methane in drinking water explosive and can blow you up dead, it’s also an asphyxiant and can kill you if enough of it vents from your water taps. Alberta Health even secretly reported that it harms health. Note the dotted red loine in their graph below:
AER and the Alberta gov’t helped Encana cover up its crimes of illegally frac’ing directly into my community’s drinking water aquifers, contaminating them with toxic metals, mystery chemicals, naphthalene, phthalates, methane, ethane and more. They all lied to us, and frac’d us again and again and again (more to come Jan 2026), while we lived in extreme life threatening risk.
Refer also to:
This is such an important point; Smith’s UCP are enablers of separatism; there is no other way to explain Bill 14.
Hon. Thomas A. Lukaszuk @lukaszukab.bsky.social:
Alberta Government cleared legal obstacles and circumvented Court decisions to help separatists. They are separatists.
#ForeverCanadian will be ready to defend Canada in a referendum. Please, register yourself as a supporter at Forever-Canadian.ca
@scribblersemporium.bsky.social:
While desperately trying to make it harder for the anti-coal activists at the same time. With the same legislation.There’s no one smart enough to write such legislation in the UCP (Party of Stupid voted for by Super Stupid), I bet Nazi USA lawyers or oil and gas company lawyers wrote it
NigelBankes @nigelb.bsky.social:
An equally important point. Corb’s initiative was likely collateral damage but it would have been so easy to draft Bill 14 to allow Corb’s petition to proceed w/out the need for refiling.
Calgary Canuck @calgarycanuck.bsky.social
Not only is Danielle Smith a traitorous separatist but she is also a Quisling who schemes with her American contacts to work against Canadian interests.
cashmerecoco.bsky.social @cashmerecoco.bsky.social:
The separatists will find themselves drawn into decades of fighting in the courts by First Nations. And sane Canadians know who will win every damn time with their treaty and Indigenous rights!
Make sure the First Nations get to vote on separating from Alberta / remaining with Canada, if Alberta gets to vote on separating from Canada and all.
@hapalochlaena.bsky.social:
They would get a vote on whether or not Alberta separates, but their lands are under treaty, so you can’t just separate Alberta and take them with it. I think they would need a separate vote on whether to go with Alberta, or cling to their treaty rights with Canada.
roxy9999.bsky.social @roxy9999.bsky.social:
I know it’s nearly impossible to separate but I have thought about all the “what if’s”. I’d definitely want to remain Canadian, so I’d move. I would also take a parent out of a care facility and find them a new place wherever I move. I’d also have the other parent exhumed and moved too. Forever Canadian.
Mister @pressmanpete.bsky.social:
So they are ignoring the First Nations?
@shirtdisturber.bsky.social:
Yes
Will Ratliffe @ratliw.bsky.social:
The UCP will cheat, lie, solicit cash and dirty trick support from their MAGA friends. Form an AB police force to use as their own ICE brownshirts, or maybe just arrange with Trump for direct intervention.
Steve Ricketts @stevericketts.bsky.social:
time to double down on our efforts. there’s literally nothing this wretched govt won’t do to placate its separatist base, including making it easier for its referendum to be run
I’m pretty sure the supremacists… I mean separatists are getting all of the say, exposure and attention they could ever want. Every day Albertans rising up and pushing back is a natural response to that.
It isn’t hard to see what kind of world the separatists want to live in. It doesn’t include people like me. Also I can give you $25000 reasons why it’s the political right who are silencing voices.