Fundamental Justice and Earth Law for the 99% 

 Mark Duell with pictures by Ashley Cooper
Mail Online, Oct 19, 2012

Once this landscape was a pristine wilderness roamed by deer now it’s ‘the most destructive industrial project on earth’

• Lush green forests once blanketed an area of the Tar Sands at Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, larger than England
• Area where blackened earth now stands dubbed by environmentalists as most destructive industrial project on earth
• Boreal forest – once home to grizzly bears, moose and bison – is vanishing at rate second to Amazon deforestation

By MARK DUELL

PUBLISHED: 19:34 GMT, 17 October 2012 | UPDATED: 12:14 GMT, 18 October 2012
These incredible pictures show the bleak landscape of bitumen, sand and clay created by the frantic pursuit of 173billion barrels of untouched oil.

The Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada, are the world’s third largest oil reserve – but lush green forests once blanketed an area there larger than England.

The region where the blackened earth now stands has been dubbed as the most destructive industrial project on earth by shocked environmentalists.

Amazing scene: Oil floats on the surface of an unlined tailings pond which holds waste water from tar sands processing in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada

Aerial view: The Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada, are the third largest oil reserve in the world – but lush green forests once blanketed an area there larger than England

Millions of barrels of tar sands oil have been extracted from underground – producing five times as many greenhouse gas emissions as normal extraction.

And the Boreal forest – once home to grizzly bears, moose, bison, deer and wolverines – is vanishing at a rate only second to Amazon deforestation.

Photographer Ashley Cooper said: ‘I knew a lot about the tar sands before I went there but nothing prepared me for the impact of actually seeing it.

The sheer scale of devastation is almost beyond comprehension. Oily, stained ground stretches for hundreds of miles where there used to be forest.

‘The constant stench of oil and chemicals is sickening. From the air, it’s even worse – you see endless miles of stacks of what look like matchsticks but are actually felled trees.

‘The forest is just gone, for as far as the eye can see. Dotted amongst the wasteland are the glistening, bizarrely beautiful tailing ponds, a toxic death-trap for wildlife.’

Coming up: Millions of barrels of tar sands oil have been extracted from underground – producing five times as many greenhouse gas emissions as normal extraction

Disappearance: The pristine Boreal forest – once home to grizzly bears, moose, bison, deer and wolverines – is vanishing at a rate only second to Amazon deforestation

The tar sands cover 141,000 sq km of Alberta. Twenty per cent of this has 174billion recoverable barrels close enough to the surface to be strip-mined.

This is done by removing the forest and the peaty soil beneath, before gas-heated water is then forced through the tar sand to melt and separate bitumen from the sand and clay.

It takes four barrels of water to retrieve one barrel of oil – creating large tailing ponds of dirty water that cover vast expanses.

Lawyer and environmentalist Polly Higgins said: ‘Runaway climate change becomes almost inevitable if the tar sands continue.

‘The tar sands should be classified as an act of ecocide and rendered illegal under international law. This is, in effect, a crime against humanity.’

Big area: The tar sands cover 141,000 sq km of Alberta. Twenty per cent of this contains 174billion recoverable barrels close enough to the surface to be strip-mined

Huge site: It takes four barrels of water to retrieve one barrel of oil – creating large tailing ponds of dirty water that cover vast expanses

But others argue that the tar sands are good news, bringing jobs and wealth into a remote northern region.

A dump truck driver can make an astonishing £125,000 a year – creating towns that defy the recession such as Fort McMurray.

People flock to live there from around the world in scenes akin to the gold rush, as they look to make their fortune from oil.

So many are employed by the industry that workers are often housed in remote camps of up to 10,000 people. Some of these have their own postcode.

But local doctors in Alberta are becoming concerned at the side effects of the industrial scale output on residents’ health.

Big draw: People flock to live at Fort McMurray from around the world in scenes akin to the gold rush, as they look to make their fortune from oil

In a nearby settlement called Fort Chip, which has a population of 1,200 people, doctor John O’Connor has diagnosed six people with bile-duct cancer.

The extremely rare disease normally affects only one in 100,000 people.

But a spokesman for government department Natural Resources Canada said: ‘The oil sands are an important strategic resource that we are committed to developing in a socially and environmentally friendly manner.

‘Between 2010 and 2035, the oil sands are expected to contribute C$2.3 trillion (£1.45trillion) to Canadian GDP and support 630,000 jobs per year.

‘This economic activity provides royalties and taxes to governments across Canada that helps support our social system, including health care and social services.’

The spokesman added that the oil sands represent one per cent of the boreal forest and firms must reclaim all the land after extraction has taken place.

Like matchsticks: Stacks of Boreal forest trees that were cut to make way for the new tar sands mine

Flattened earth: The pictures capture large swathes of forest that have been cleared

Destructive: The tar sand mines have killed off wildlife both large and small, such as this dragonfly

Spectacular: The massive sulphur mountains make for dramatic – but destructive – scenery

Bright blight: The sulphur mountains bleed into the surrounding black landscape

Debris: Mounds of dug-up earth are left to blight the environment

Heavy machinery: Dump trucks line up to remove tar sand from the mine at Fort McMurray

Industry: A massive piece of mining equipment at the Syncrude Mildred Lake plant

 

One-way traffic: A rush-hour jam caused by workers leaving the mines. The picture also gives an idea of the natural beauty of the area

 

Men at work: Diggers and dump trucks go about the work, forever scarring the once-beautiful location

Against a setting sun, the sand tar mines plant pumps out smoke into the evening air

 

Smoke stacks: The Syncrude Mildred Lake plant churns out emissions into the Canadian air as part of the largest industrial project on the planet

 

Industrial revolution: The area was once home to wolf, lynx, cougar, bear, moose, caribou and beaver among other animals

Home from home: An aerial view of one of many camps that house the tar sands workers

 

Heartland: The tar sands mine in Alberta, almost in the centre of the country

 Watch Garth Lenz’s Slideshow on the Tar Sands HERE

Watch the National Geographic’s

Once considered too expensive, as well as too damaging to the land, exploitation of Alberta’s oil sands is now a gamble worth billions.