The Panel’s contribution to the evolving dialogue and policy development was to examine whether or not there is an observation and monitoring system in the region of a quality that will provide decision-makers with the data and evidence necessary to safeguard the environment while supporting economic and social development. [...] The oil sands are exposed along the banks of the Athabasca River and its tributaries, and during warm weather the viscosity of the bitumen decreases to the point that liquid crude oozes slowly from the exposure faces into the surface waters. [...] Given the improvements in extraction, treatment and processing, and the introduction of the new tailings treatment process, phase two of the oil sands development may well be viewed retrospectively as the most dismal phase in terms of overall pollution levels and the scale of the environmental footprint. [...] In addition, the surface mining tailings ponds produce fugitive emissions from the presence of trace amounts of 16 solvents in the tailings used to help separate the bitumen and by the biological activity of natural bacteria in the ponds. [...] Rather we examined the real or perceived environmental impact of the oil sands development activities through the lens of monitoring, the interaction and synergy among key players and the general scope of monitoring activities.
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- Canada