Critics fume as Canada approves Total’s Joslyn oilsands project

 

The Canadian government gave Total SA approval on Thursday to start construction on its C$9 billion ($8.9 billion) Joslyn North oilsands project in Alberta, marking the fifth mining development in the vast crude deposit.

Photograph by: Thierry Cron, Total Canada

OTTAWA - The federal government, in a move critics say is a direct affront to the climate change talks in South Africa, announced Thursday the go-ahead of a major oilsands project in northern Alberta.

The construction of the Joslyn North Mine will inject up to $9 billion in new capital investment across the country and generate $10 billion in revenues for the federal and Alberta governments over 40 years, said Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver.

But Oliver said the six-year approval process for the Joslyn mine was far too long, and he said Ottawa will work with the provinces to ensure projects get underway roughly two years after applications are filed.

“It is crystal clear that we need to put an end to unreasonable delays – delays that can jeopardize the viability of projects like Joslyn and harm our reputation as an attractive place to do business,” Oliver told reporters.

One environmental group reacted angrily to the announcement.

The approval of Total E&P Canada’s project during the United Nations climate summit in Durban “is like poking the international process in the eye,” said Gillian McEachern of the group Environmental Defence.

“This decision will mean another one and a half million tonnes of greenhouse gas pollution each year, the equivalent to putting over 270,000 cars on the road. This represents the wrong direction if Canada is serious about tackling global warming.”

The mine property is located 65 kilometres northwest of Fort McMurray, and will involve a 221-square kilometre area of land to be mined over 20 years.

Total E&P Canada, a subsidiary of the Paris-based energy giant Total SA, acquired the property in 2005 and is the lead operator. It is partnering with Suncor Energy, Occidental Petroleum and Inpex Canada.

A joint environmental assessment panel, which included representatives from the federal government and the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board, concluded in January that the project is feasible.

But federal departments took almost a year to go through the report and come up with environmental mitigation measures before the project got final approval.

The mine is scheduled to begin operations in 2017 and will produce up to 100,0000 barrels of bitumen a day, and will yield a total of 874 million barrels, according to Total’s website.

Construction cost is estimated by the company at $7-$9 billion, with the construction workforce expected to peak at 4,100 workers.

Total direct, indirect and “induced” employment will total 42,000, according to the website.

The website said the project is “designed to be environmentally responsible.”