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Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends
Technology and Policy Options to Reduce Water Use in Oil and Oil Sands Development in Alberta
May 2006 REPORT

Mary Griffiths
Amy Taylor • Dan Woynillowicz
Sustainable Energy Solutions

Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends
Technology and Policy Options to Reduce Water Use in Oil and Oil Sands Development in Alberta
1st Edition

Mary Griffiths
AmyTaylor • Dan Woynillowicz

May, 2006

Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends

The Pembina Institute

Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends: Technology and Policy Options to Reduce Water Use in Oil and Oil Sands Development in Alberta 1st Edition, published May 2006 Printed in Canada Editor: Randee Holmes Layout: Roberta Franchuk Cover photos: Syncrude Canada’s oil sands extraction and upgradingfacilities and tailings pond (foreground). Photo: David Dodge, The Pembina Institute. Inset aerial photo and back cover aerial photos are reproduced with permission of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, Air Photo Distribution, Phone: 780-427-3520. Aerial photos © Alberta Government. The pictures show a cyclical steam stimulation operation in the Cold Lake area. ©2006 The Pembina Institute ISBN0-921719-91-4 The Pembina Institute Box 7558 Drayton Valley, Alberta T7A 1S7 Canada Phone: 780.542.6272 E-mail: piad@pembina.org Additional copies of this publication may be downloaded from our website: http://www.pembina.org.

About the Pembina Institute
The Pembina Institute creates sustainable energy solutions through research, education, consulting and advocacy. It promotes environmental,social and economic sustainability in the public interest by developing practical solutions for communities, individuals, governments and businesses. The Pembina Institute provides policy research leadership and education on climate change, energy issues, green economics, energy efficiency and conservation, renewable energy, and environmental governance. More information about the Pembina Institute isavailable at http://www.pembina.org or by contacting info@pembina.org

ii - Troubled Waters, Troubling Trends

The Pembina Institute

“It is rare indeed to find thinking people in any large producing area of the world putting fresh water down a hole to force out oil.” The Honourable Nick Taylor, P. Geol., retired Canadian Senator and former Member of the Alberta Legislature

TroubledWaters, Troubling Trends - iii

The Pembina Institute

Acknowledgements and Disclaimer
Information about various companies and projects is provided in this report. We appreciate the help of many people in providing and checking the data. In certain instances, a specific project or process is used within the report as an illustrative example. This use of such examples does not suggest that thesecompanies, projects or processes are unique in terms of the problems associated with them or the solutions being employed. We recognize the openness of several companies in acknowledging and identifying challenges and their efforts to address them. We hope that our report will encourage all involved in the management and use of water for oil recovery to find ways to reduce their impact on theenvironment. The authors would like to acknowledge a number of individuals, organizations and government bodies that have made this report possible: Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, for a grant that enabled us to write this report Environment Canada, for a grant that enabled us to expand the report Alberta Environment Alberta Energy and Utilities Board and Alberta Geological Survey Bruce Peachey,New Paradigm Engineering Ltd. Individuals and companies that provided data and, in some cases, reviewed the report: Canadian Natural Resources Limited; Peter Koning, ConocoPhillips Canada; Devon Canada Corporation; Don Sutherland and Dan Hausmann, Husky Energy; Dr. Stuart Lunn and Glynis Carling, Imperial Oil Resources; Jos Lussenburg, Japan Canada Oil Sands; Doug Bertsch, North West Upgrading;...