Suncor acquired its first reclamation approval under the new reclamation act in the late 1970s. At that time all environmental approvals were subject to renewal after five years.
Because of increased interest in oil sands development and reclamation at its infancy, we had the challenge of building a case to convince the regulators and public that we were on the right reclamation track when we applied for our renewal in the early 1980s.
Around that point in time the research and the operational experience all began to tell us that, in fact, we can reclaim these newly formed materials and there was no real magic to it. Once our renewal application was approved, I think it basically became a standard for the whole industry.
This photo from 2002 shows Pond 1 which operated from 1967 to 1997. Dykes were built to create a wider and deeper basin until eventually pond was lifted about 100 metres above the Athabasca River.
Suncor is the first Alberta oil sands company to convert a tailings pond to a stable surface solid enough to be re-vegetated. This photo shows Pond 1 in 2010.
We arrived at this stage of reclamation technology by applying a common sense and continuous improvement approach. Initially the concern was erosion of tailings sand which was successfully abated by using quick-growing agronomic grasses and legumes planted into spread salvaged topsoil. However, since oil sands development happens in the boreal forest of northeastern Alberta the obvious end point of reclamation was to return the land to forest vegetation.
The trees were very much in competition with the grasses, and not sustainable because only ornamental species of woody plants and agronomic herbaceous vegetation were available at that time.
This put us on a track, in the mid 1980s, to initiate development of native species of trees and shrubs and an herbaceous ground cover. Propagating native trees and shrubs was well on its way as a viable source for reclamation, but we still had to deal with a sustainable and erosion controlling ground cover.
We began using “nurse” species such as barley which took care of the erosion problem. Simultaneously, we discovered that our surface soil materials, primarily organic soils, were a viable source of native species of herbaceous and woody plants. The type and volume of soil materials were a concern as well, but we based our soil reconstruction methods on scientific study of natural soil processes.
Over the next two decades, Suncor Energy will closely monitor progress on the site, including the growth of 630,000 shrubs and trees planted in 2010.
Pond 1 surface construction involved covering it with a layer of soil 50 cm deep. About 65,000 truckloads of soil were used.
