Tailings Pond at the Alberta Tar Sands

An oily tailings pond, seen from above, in the Athabasca tar sands region. Canada's tar sands are an oil reserve the size of England. Extracting the crude oil called bitumen from underneath unspoiled wilderness requires a massive industrialized effort with far-reaching impacts on the land, air, water, and climate. This photo was taken during the production of "Petropolis", a documentary film about the tar sands, directed by Peter Mettler and produced by Greenpeace Canada. For more information about this project, please go to: www.petropolis-film.com

Unique identifier: GP01QC7

Type: Image

Shoot date: 22/05/2008

Locations: Alberta, Canada, North America

Credit line: © Greenpeace / E M

Size: 3504px × 2336px 4MB

Ranking: ★★★★ (E)

Containers

Shoot:

Tar Sands Documentation in Canada

Canada's tar sands, located in the province of Alberta, are an oil reserve the size of England. Extracting the crude oil called bitumen from underneath unspoiled wilderness requires a massive industrialized effort with far-reaching impacts on the land, air, water, and climate. Getting the oil out of the tar sands uses roughly three barrels of water per barrel of oil, or as much water as a city of two million people. After use in tar sands processing, 90 per cent of this water is so contaminated with toxic chemicals that it must be stored in tailings ponds so huge that they can be seen from outer space. Tar sands oil production releases five times more greenhouse gases than conventional oil production. Tar sands activities also affect the health of local communities, causing fish deformities and increased cancer rates.

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Tar Sands Documentation in Canada (All Photographers & Videos)

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