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Total Joslyn North tar sands mine
Feb 17, 2011 01:23 PM
Status: Closed File
Ecojustice has challenged a new oilsands project application that represents a potential $3 billion liability to Canadians.
Ecojustice challenged a new tar sands project that will substantially increase greenhouse gas emissions, threatens wildlife habitat, and represents a potential $3 billion liability to Canadians.
We opposed the approval of Total
E&P Canada’s Joslyn North mine in review hearings, arguing for a fresh
assessment of the project’s cumulative impacts on wildlife, fish and northern
forests, as required by law.
Despite our calls for a new assessment, a joint
provincial-federal review panel approved the project based on the existing,
flawed environmental assessment.
Our expert panel included world-renowned climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, who testified that the additional greenhouse gas emissions from this proposed mine will be proportionally responsible for the extirpation of 37 species by the end of century, if the current level of global emissions continues.
The proposed open-pit oilsands project will produce 100,000 barrels of bitumen a day over the mine’s projected 25-year lifespan. When the mine is closed, it will take 80 to 120 years to restore a mature boreal forest to the site and a 2.4 km2 contaminated end pit lake will be left on the landscape for an indefinite period of time.
Ecojustice staff:
Karin Buss (Ecojustice counsel)
Melissa Gorrie
Karin Buss (Ecojustice counsel)
Our partners:
Fort McMurray Environmental Association
Pembina Institute
Toxics Watch Society of Alberta
