Evidence That Alberta's Oil Fields Are Polluting the Water
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Technology
Tar-sand development pollutes water. A team of researchers from Canada has come up with evidence to confirm environmentalists' worst fears: the controversial tar-sand development in Alberta appears to be polluting water supplies in the region. Queen's University biologist put it this way in a paper published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences:
"Assertions that [hydrocarbon pollution] in the [Athabasca River] watershed are entirely caused by natural erosion of bitumen are no longer tenable."
So what is causing the pollution, then? New research shows that hydrocarbon pollution in five lakes near the tar sands went up from 1967 (the year tar sands first opened to development) to 2010. "By linking the rates of increase to rates of oil sands production, there is concern that projected increases in oil sands expansion will cause toxic contaminations to be present in lake sediments in 10 years or so," comments University of Alberta biologist David Schindler.
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