Shaul Polczer, CALGARY: In a bid to stave off criticism of lax environmental policies, Canada will implement a tough new monitoring programme for its oil sands. Increased water and air sampling are among the new measures.
Testing will be carried out in more locations, more often and at different times of the year to account for seasonal variations, such as melting snow. In addition, the governments of Alberta and Canada will search for more potentially damaging chemicals that critics say are leaking into the environment undetected, endangering communities in neighbouring provinces.
The focus of regional land-use plans will also consider “cumulative effects” of existing oil-sands development for the first time and set benchmarks for expansions. The cost of the C$150 million ($150 million) programme will be borne by the oil and gas industry, although it will operate at arm’s length from it.
Although environmental groups didn’t get everything...