News

Tori Cress Tori Cress

Strong Earthquake Occurs at In-situ Tar Sands Extraction Operation Near Peace River, AB

For Immediate Release: December 1, 2022 - Tuesday’s record-strong earthquake near Peace River, Alberta, occurred directly under a large, heavy oil In-Situ project operated by Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL). The 5.8 magnitude earthquake was preceded by two 5.2 magnitude earthquakes and many aftershocks, all directly within the large CNRL Carmon Creek In-Situ oil field. The project was initiated by Shell Canada over ten years ago and sold to CNRL in 2017.

The underground activities of the Carson Creek large heavy oil project strongly suggest a direct industry cause of these earthquakes. A thorough independent/government geological and seismological investigation is needed to determine the facts.

Seismic activity is known to occur due to this type of In-Situ project. Industry should track seismic events related to the massive amounts of hot water injected 550 meters deep into the 30-metre bitumen layer. Injected water can unpredictably follow sub-injection fractures. Page 29 of the Shell 2016 Carson Creek Progress report discusses seismic risk associated with this In-Situ project, while seismic monitoring is not mentioned in the CNRL 2017 Directive 54 Annual Performance Presentation.

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Tori Cress Tori Cress

PRESENTATIONS: Athabasca Basin: Tailings and impacts on aquifers

Keepers of the Athabasca, in partnership with the Society of High Prairie Regional Environmental Action Committee (REAC), is connecting hydrogeologists, some working in the area for over a decade, with Traditional Knowledge holders, First Nations technical experts, and those closest to the land in order to develop tools toward watershed literacy, citizen science, and water monitoring programs.

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Tori Cress Tori Cress

RELEASE: No more new bitumen mines!

We have many unacknowledged environmental and human health impacts from existing bitumen mines, with currently over a billion cubic metres of toxic tailings. Keepers of the Athabasca is one of the intervenors working hard to stop a proposal for the biggest bitumen mine yet.

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