Canadian Natural told to drain Alberta lake due to oil sands leak

[Joe Shlabotnik]

The province of Alberta's environment department issued an environmental protection order on Tuesday that compels the company to drain a two-thirds of the 53-hectare (131-acre) lake on its Primrose East thermal oil sands site before the onset of winter to prevent further contamination.

Canadian Natural, Canada's largest independent oil producer, reported in late June that bitumen was coming to the surface on the bottom of the lake.

The environment department said water quality in the lake has not been affected but it did not say why. Bitumen is heavier than water, however.

The leak, one of four on the sprawling project site, sprung up from an oil sands reserve produced by a process that melts bitumen with high-pressure steam so that it can be moved and processed. The leak has yet to be stopped, and has become the latest focus for environmentalists concerned about the impact oil sands production.

"The Alberta government should, at a minimum, put a hold on approving new underground tar sands operations until we understand how these leaks are happening and if other sites could run into similar problems," Mike Hudema, a climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace Canada, said in a statement.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/24/canadiannatural-spill-order-idUSL2N0HK25N20130924

Now if they could only drain the swamp in Ottawa.