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Here's specific information on how Syncrude is rehabilitating the oil sand pits:
Reclamation efforts creating sustainable forests
Syncrude wrapped up its tree planting season this year with an annual event for employees and their families that allowed them to dig in and help plant a new forest on a former mine site.
Held on September 19th, the event brought the total amount of seedlings planted this year to around 143,000. Called Syncrude Tree Planting Day, it brought out 130 participants who experienced firsthand the activities associated with oil sands land restoration.
Syncrude will spend more than $100 million on its reclamation efforts this year. More than five million trees and shrubs have been planted on more than 4,600 hectares of land since operations began in 1978.
The area used for the tree planting event has been undergoing reclamation for the last two years. Planting will be completed next spring, followed by at least 15 years of monitoring as the forest and landscape matures.
Syncrude has seen great results from the monitoring of reclaimed landscapes on our site. In 1992, Syncrude planted pine, aspen and spruce tree seedlings in another reclaimed area on the western slope of its Mildred Lake tailings dam. The trees were planted in a 50 centimetre layer of peat soil-mineral mix that was spread over tailings sand. Syncrude has been monitoring the growth and health of the trees as they have matured over the past 18 years. Monitoring has included measuring the roots and carbon storage capacity of the forest, as well as tracking new buds on the trees and changes in the canopy cover.
The landscape has demonstrated very positive trends. Tree roots extend into the soil 110 to 120 centimetres, the canopy closed within the last three years, and the trees are showing the same productivity as a natural forest.
“The science of oil sands reclamation is continually evolving,” says Rob Vassov, senior reclamation scientist with Syncrude. “If we can achieve a forest this healthy with what we knew 18 years ago, imagine what we will accomplish in the future.”
At this same site, Syncrude has partnered with the Alberta Research Council on a research study comparing the effectiveness of carbon storage between this reclaimed forest and a natural forest. Research results are positive. In fact, carbon cycling in the reclaimed area is occurring at the same rate as it does in the natural forest. This is particularly important because boreal forests are considered carbon dioxide sinks, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“I’m confident that Syncrude’s ability to reclaim land is very high, given what I’ve seen from my research,” says Alberta Research Council scientist Terry Macyk.
In order to receive government certification, Syncrude must prove the reclaimed land can sustain vegetation and wildlife similar to that before disturbance. In 2008, Syncrude received the first reclamation certification in the oil sands industry for the 104-hectare area known as Gateway Hill. This area was planted in the early 1980s and is Syncrude's most established reclaimed area.
Syncrude wrapped up its tree planting season this year with an annual event for employees and their families that allowed them to dig in and help plant a new forest on a former mine site.
Held on September 19th, the event brought the total amount of seedlings planted this year to around 143,000. Called Syncrude Tree Planting Day, it brought out 130 participants who experienced firsthand the activities associated with oil sands land restoration.
Syncrude will spend more than $100 million on its reclamation efforts this year. More than five million trees and shrubs have been planted on more than 4,600 hectares of land since operations began in 1978.
The area used for the tree planting event has been undergoing reclamation for the last two years. Planting will be completed next spring, followed by at least 15 years of monitoring as the forest and landscape matures.
Syncrude has seen great results from the monitoring of reclaimed landscapes on our site. In 1992, Syncrude planted pine, aspen and spruce tree seedlings in another reclaimed area on the western slope of its Mildred Lake tailings dam. The trees were planted in a 50 centimetre layer of peat soil-mineral mix that was spread over tailings sand. Syncrude has been monitoring the growth and health of the trees as they have matured over the past 18 years. Monitoring has included measuring the roots and carbon storage capacity of the forest, as well as tracking new buds on the trees and changes in the canopy cover.
The landscape has demonstrated very positive trends. Tree roots extend into the soil 110 to 120 centimetres, the canopy closed within the last three years, and the trees are showing the same productivity as a natural forest.
“The science of oil sands reclamation is continually evolving,” says Rob Vassov, senior reclamation scientist with Syncrude. “If we can achieve a forest this healthy with what we knew 18 years ago, imagine what we will accomplish in the future.”
At this same site, Syncrude has partnered with the Alberta Research Council on a research study comparing the effectiveness of carbon storage between this reclaimed forest and a natural forest. Research results are positive. In fact, carbon cycling in the reclaimed area is occurring at the same rate as it does in the natural forest. This is particularly important because boreal forests are considered carbon dioxide sinks, helping to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“I’m confident that Syncrude’s ability to reclaim land is very high, given what I’ve seen from my research,” says Alberta Research Council scientist Terry Macyk.
In order to receive government certification, Syncrude must prove the reclaimed land can sustain vegetation and wildlife similar to that before disturbance. In 2008, Syncrude received the first reclamation certification in the oil sands industry for the 104-hectare area known as Gateway Hill. This area was planted in the early 1980s and is Syncrude's most established reclaimed area.
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