"Adventure Tourism Information About Places Ya'Gotta Go To!"
Part two: The Exploitation of the Swan Hills
Taiga:
The Swan Hills rests in the Taiga forest of Western Canada. Like a giant green halo, the Taiga is a belt of coniferous forest that encircles the entire Northern Hemisphere. It is the earth's largest terrestrial ecosystem.
A fine web-site (www.TaigaRescue.org), sums it up: "Large scale industrial forestry is by far the most important threat affecting boreal forests today."
"Intensive forestry methods such as large scale clearcutting, plantation forestry, the introduction of exotic species, soil scarification and ditching and the use of pesticides/herbicides characterize forestry throughout the boreal region leading to a simplification of the ecosystem and an unprecedented loss of habitat."
It went on to list oil and gas activity as "other threats". OTHER THREATS! As far as Swan Hills is concerned this is just as prevalent as the forestry biz, maybe more, and it's just the beginning.
"By degrading forests, engineering rivers, filling in wetlands and destabilizing the climate, we are unraveling the strands of a complex ecological safety net" (World Watch News Release).
The Planet:
"We have altered so many natural systems so dramatically, their ability to protect us from disturbances is greatly diminished" (Janet Abramoutz).
Here's a good one. An article, written by Mark Anielski, states that "timber sustainability [in Alberta] may be at risk with total depletion now exceeding the annual rate of replenishment."
An incredible amount of information suggests that if we don't get our act together soon...
There is a zoologist at the University of Oxford by the name of Robert M. May. He presides over the Royal Society and is the former chief scientific advisor to the British Government. Depressingly, he states that the extinction rate on the planet has accelerated roughly one thousand times (in the past one hundred years) to what it was before humans showed up. He further comments that it is seriously possible that a further factor of ten may speed up over the next century, putting us in earth's sixth great wave of extinction.
"The world's richest countries, with 20% of the global population, account for 86% of total private consumption, while the poorest 20% account for only 1.3%. A child born today in an industrialized country will add more to consumption and pollution over his or her lifetime than 30-50 children born in developing countries" (Environmental Impacts of Overpopulation and the Technology to Support 6 Billion People). This is a great web-site.
The Raven:
If I wanted to make a list of my favorite people Peter Raven would be one of them. He resides over the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Hear his words.
"Biodiversity's species become extinct and communities and ecosystems are lacerated and loose their vitality because of human pressure, which have to do with consumption. More and more people wanting more and more."
What will it take to start listening to these sagacious people? While the Swan Hills grizzly bears are – quite literally – down in the dumps, this kind of commentary goes virtually unnoticed. Why? The floodgates of information are hideously and insidiously connected to vacuous corporate interests. Look around folks; always seek a second opinion.
In his book, The Sacred Balance, David Suzuki speaks of the way information is kept from the public. He mentions the Earth Summit in Rio ("World Scientists Warning to Humanity", Nov. 18, 1992). "It was signed by more than sixteen hundred senior scientists from seventy one countries, including half of all Nobel Prize winners." These are not a bunch of radicals proposing doom and gloom, but excellent people concerned for the well being of the planet. He then goes on to describe how, shockingly, the mainstream media almost completely ignored it. Go to your local bookstore, cough up a few clams, and pick up a copy of Suzuki's book - or anything else by Suzuki for that matter.
Foothills:
To the Alberta foothills we go. To mention it repeatedly, the Swan Hills region is an outlier of the Rocky Mountain foothills. To jump on the ecological bandwagon, I am only repeating what others are saying, that this part of the Alberta has not been sufficiently protected. With that, Alberta's "Special Places" program comes to mind. I'm referring to a grandiose venture by the Alberta government which, in the end, not surprisingly, delivered little or no content. A bumbling and bombastic failure, it proved to be anything but "special". A media release provided by two Alberta conservation groups served up this little morsel. "Slave Lake Provincial Park has 100 petroleum well sites in 61 square kilometres; over one half of all sites designated as protected areas during Special Places legislatively provided for industrial uses within them."
Historical Note:
"To the north beyond the Athabasca River lie the most extensive upland regions, the first being the rolling mass of the Swan Hills capped by a gravel of hard quartzite boulders. This cover causes so much trouble to oil-well rigs that drillers prefer to scrape the 15 or 20 feet of gravel away with bulldozers rather than drill down through it" (Alberta, A Natural History, W.G. Hardy, 1976).
Open Door Policy:
The Swan Hills have become a poster-child for wilderness exploitation. Want to know how not to treat the land; have a peek at the Swan Hills. Root around on the Internet, aerial photos showing mass destruction can easily be found. The beautiful (and fast disappearing) forests east of the Rocky Mountains represent some of the finest country anywhere, yet there is an "open-door" business policy for most of it. It's all about the bottom line...
Cumulative Effects:
"According to the North American continental assessment by World Wildlife Fund, the Alberta/B.C. foothills forests can be classified as critical" (Ricketts et al. 1999).
"In this ecoregion, no large habitat blocks remain intact. Significant threats to the integrity of the ecoregion are posed by forestry, agriculture expansion, and oil and gas exploration. Other threats include livestock grazing, seismic exploration, pipeline building, and predator control. Grizzly bear, wolf, and caribou populations, in particular, suffer under the strain of human land and resource use" (Conservation Biology Institute).
The ultimate problem, of course, is the combined effects of human intervention - "cumulative use". Add it all up and it starts to look unbelievable. While industry is lauding their own "sustainable" practices – usually, in the most bizarre, Orwellian fashion – the overall "footprint" is virtually never discussed.
Ethical:
For those wanting to read some excellent and objective info, I might suggest three wonderful papers (they can all be located on the internet). These articles are informative and easy to obtain. But don't expect roses, cheesecake and cocktail umbrellas.
1) The Oil and Gas Industry in Alberta: Practices, Regulations and Environmental Impact-Draft Report. R. Schneider, Alberta Centre for Boreal Research, Nov. 2001.
2) Forest Management in Alberta: A Review R. Schneider, Alberta Centre for Boreal Research, Nov. 2001.
3) A Dim Future for Boreal Waters and Landscapes, D. Schindler, 1998, Bioscience 48: 157-164.
Bad Stuff:
When speaking of the Swan Hills, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who is causing the most damage. Three participants easily come to mind: the oil and gas business, the forestry business and the Swan Hills Waste Treatment Centre. (Four, if one includes the democratically elected people who enjoy cosy relationships with these industries.) I am not breaking any great, progressive ground with this assessment.
When speaking of the oil and gas business, I refer to an array of related infrastructure. Things like seismic roads and blasting, drilling sites, access roads, trucks, pipe lines, power-lines and so on. The forestry business is well known for clearcutting, pesticide spraying, access roads, cut-lines, introducing exotic species, and generally shredding and simplifying natures' diversity. Adding to this mayhem is the Swan Hills Toxic Waste Treatment Centre. The over all impact is dazzling.
To learn about the logging industry, let me suggest an incredible book entitled, At the Cutting Edge, The Crisis in Canada's Forests, by Elizabeth May. Just look at this little passage: "Canada is overcutting. The rates of cut are set to meet industry demands for fibre, not to ensure sustainability. Yet government and and industry publications present a facade of rigorous scientific data to promote the illusion that they are working toward sustainability."
Nature's Playground:
Moving right along, while some other North American destinations want to avoid becoming "natures playground", it appears the Swan Hills strive for the exact opposite. It has been stated often that if viewed from the air, these hills look like spaghetti, roads and cut-lines are ubiquitous. It is where any number of people "blaze the trails" riding a multitude of all-terrain vehicles.
PCBs:
The Swan Hills Waste Treatment Centre is well known. People throughout the world are concerned that a like facility will not end up in the their own backyard. With good reason! I don't have to blab about it too much; the information is everywhere, just go find it. Even in the Alberta fishing regulations book, the surrounding area is a big bucket of PCB fun. Christyna Lake is right around the corner... let's go camping. I will broach the subject again down the line.
The Beginning:
To turn back the clock, it all started about fifty years ago. "Eventually, in the mid 50's construction of the Whitecourt-Valleyview cut-off was started. This was the single event that stunned the province and removed the Swan Hills area form its long sleep isolation" (Pipe Line to the Past, The History of Swan Hills and District, 1994). There's gold in them there hills, black gold.
If you were a Swan Hills grizzly bear, the dreaded day was November 28, 1957. This was when Home Oil punctured the surface. The deed was done and money talks - bears do not. Historically, when a valuable resource is located, an all-out frenzy of exploitation begins.
"It didn't take long for a maze of roads to appear. As if overnight, these hills were carved up like a Christmas turkey. Much of the valley and surrounding hills sit over a large pool of oil. Miles of roads and pipelines, and other infrastructure had been constructed as a part of the oil extraction process" (Watch over the forest).
Bear Story:
This next bit is from the 1960's. "As the town was situated were the bears used to hibernate, especially near the trailer park, it was not unusual to have visitors around the trailers and garbage cans. I even had to chase one out from under the trailer. However, as more people moved into town and development took place, the bears slowly moved out" (History of the Swan Hills Alive in the Memories of Residents... Past and Present, The Grizzly Gazette, July 18, 2000).
"As the years went by, a network of all-weather roads was constructed throughout the Swan Hills" (The Treasure Seekers- The Men who Built Home Oil, Philip Smith).
"This place was a gold rush boom town in every respect, except the people moiled for liquid "black gold". It was an explosion of skid shacks, trailers and trucks, Cats, drilling rigs and people from all over; all recently arrived in the middle of a pristine wilderness. People worked around the clock exploiting a vast oil resource from the Swan Hills Reef, a formation that had up to that point never produced. Bears roamed freely through town and a hook into any stream would immediately catch a grayling or trout" (Judy Creek and Beyond, Audrey Kerr).
Did it occur to anyone that perhaps a little restraint was in order, after all, it was a "pristine wilderness" right? Quick cash, loads of it too, I don't see any bears, what bears? People lose control, its human nature. Alberta is a boom and bust kind of place. The town of Swan Hills sits over the third largest oilfield in the country. It has been estimated to contain a massive four billion barrels of oil.
Courage:
Anderson Exploration is currently working on a $105 million miscible flood project to recover approximately 567.3 million barrels of oil.
Wait, there's more. A Swan Hills web-site stated: "Gulf Canada is the largest landowner [do they own the land?], leasing 45% of the oil land in the area...with the surrounding wealth of trees, it's no surprise that forestry is also a major industry in the area, with the two major leaseholders being Millar Western and Blue Ride Lumber."
Incidentally, the "blue" in Blue Ridge stands for blueberry. These days, pesticides often decide the fate of this fruit.
Fox Creek:
Come on partners and we'll mosey on down to Fox Creek. It is situated in the southwest corner of the Swan Hills. Here we find one of Canada's largest producing gas fields.
"A few major conventional oil fields are found near the areas of Judy Creek, Swan Hills, Mitsue and Utikuma Lake. Land disturbances is one of the major concerns related to oil drilling. Seismic Lines formed by oil and mineral exploration are visible in many areas. Other concerns [notice how there are always "other concerns"] centre on land management, waste treatment, accidental spills/ storage tank failures" (Internet).
Oil Spills:
I found an old article from the Edmonton Journal (1970 or 1971). Oil spills in two different Alberta locations are discussed, one being situated near Fox Creek. Hudson's Bay Oil and Gas Company Ltd had spilled some oil and effluent. Correctly, folks were concerned that the incident was being hidden from the public. Somebody said, "this should be public knowledge". Another person piped up, "right now this is classified and known only to the people in the Environmental Health Division of the Department of Health" (The article is called: Reforms Urged for Industries Pollution Policy).
Things never change. For the Alberta government, hiding information is more than just a hobby. Take for instance, the strange and shadowy "unpublished document" section of the Alberta Environment Library. But this is a topic for another day.
Smoke Lake is in the Fox Creek area. More newspaper clippings delve further into the subject. A small group of concerned citizens went to check out the oil spill.
"We wonder if this "mysterious" chemical is the killer "of some dead fish".
"Is it some sort of a powerful scouring agent used in cleaning and flushing out crude oil storage tanks? Is this invisible chemical poison going into streams all over the province on a reoccurring basis whenever crude oil tanks are flushed."
The dead fish, it turns out, were poisoned, not suffocated by gill-clogging oil. Also, somebody had flown over the place, describing smoking sour wells and millions of tones of stored sulphur on either side of Pine Creek. (Big Perch Dead Only Small Pickerel Left, Mysterious Chemicals Pouring Into The Lake. What is going on at Smoke Lake? Edmonton Journal.)
I found yet another related article. "No fish life has been discovered in the creek since the sudden kill-off early this week. Chemical analysis of the creek water and effluent from the plant has not been completed. The oil company has enlisted a biologist to do further testing" (Smoke Lake free of Chemicals, Edmonton Journal).
Corporations doing their own environmental impact studies: sound familiar?
"Critics of the government's environmental policies say the Klein Tories have fostered a system that virtually leaves the industry policing itself. And when someone does get caught breaking the rules, they argue the penalties are a farce. Liberal Environmental Critic Debby Carlson said the downhill slide began in the early 1990s when the government decimated the environment ministry, slashing its budget in half and eliminating one third of its staff. Much of the pollution monitoring duties were turned over to the businesses themselves. It became a condition of their license to record their own factories' emissions and submit monthly reports to the government" (See Magazine, Aug.30-Sept. 5, 2001, by Andrew Hanon).
Summer Kill:
To conclude this bit, there is a huge blue book known as Atlas of Alberta Lakes (1990). It can be found at the public library. Wouldn't you know it, the Smoke Lake incident is mentioned. This should be interesting I thought because an up-to-date version of the story is given. "Smoke Lake has a fairly extensive drainage basin that is about 13 times the size of the lake." Then it gets good. "Low catches during the mid 1960's (less than 875kg) and a summer-kill in 1972 were responsible for the closure from 1968-1975" (Hawryluk, 1979).
Huh? Is that it? It's odd how, over time, the facts become outrageously vague. In fact, like a fresh coat of paint, it has been given a whole new glossy finish. What exactly does "summer-kill" mean anyway? For what purpose is the most pertinent information being withheld from the recently drafted document? Is history being recounted in a way that neatly tucks away the uncomfortable details? Who, if anyone, is questioning this disturbing and surreal stuff? The latter quote comes from a document listed as "unpublished".
"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is afraid of its people." (JFK)
Damage:
Sifting through some more old clippings I found this, Province Lacks Staff to Police Pollution, Game Group Says, 1970-71, by Gary Cooper, Edmonton Journal.
"...Alberta Fish and Game Association charges there are not enough inspection and enforcement officers in the field to guard against oil pollution. And to back that claim, the small fish and game group at Kinuso, 150 miles northwest of Edmonton near Swan Hills, has submitted a document to Lands and Forest Minister Dr. J Donovan Ross. "They produced evidence of careless oil company practices in the area."
"It is pretty obvious from the Kinuso document that oil spills in Alberta do not number one or two as in the Athabasca River and at Smoke Lake, nor 10, but dozens and dozens."
Reading a little further, it states that there is serious pollution of rivers and streams as a result of shoddy road construction and poor well-site development. "Indications from the Kinuso document are that there have been about 500 spills in the Swan Hills-Fox Creek oil fields recently, including 40 that could be classed as serious." FIVE HUNDRED SPILLS!
Today, environmental documents often place the beginning of time in the 1980's. Before that, information has a suspicious way of becoming foggy or "unpublished". The Alberta government is famous for this kind of crap. A good example is the precarious estimation of grizzly bear numbers. It is frequently suggested that the situation has improved since the 1980's. Did the world begin at this time? No it did not, and we should be learning from past mistakes instead of pretending they don't exist.
1970's:
Speaking of the 1970's, this would be the perfect moment to throw in what I call - the great quote. It's a big bucket of verbal-shit. It refers to pollution in the Athabasca River as a result of the North Western Pulp And Paper Mill in Hinton. Here again, it comes from The Edmonton Journal, dated sometime around 1970: "...an engineer with the Water Pollution Control Section, Provincial Health Department today said the Hinton Mill is polluting the Athabasca River, but the river is not being adversely affected." It's a joke, right?
Sour Gas:
Lets go to Whitecourt in the 1960's. This is from the Whitecourt Echo, vol. 3 No. 25, June 18, 1960.
"A major gas processing plant is slated for construction in the Whitecourt area, [southeastern portion of the Swan Hills] of Alberta (the cost $20 million)."
"There will be an initial sulfur plant with recovery capacity of about 640 tones per day. Tenders have been called for the construction of the gas plant facilities which will be in the Winfall Field, about 22 miles west of Whitecourt."
"Gas has a high content of hydrogen sulphide which must be removed by processing to yield a sweet merchantable gas for delivery to purchasers. The hydrogen sulphide removed will be further processed for recovery of pure sulfur."
We've Got Gas:
You have been given a taste of the past, how about now? It appears that the Alta Gas Services Inc. people have struck a little deal in recent days. They have acquired the Prairie River Natural Gas Processing Plant and associated fifty eight kilometre gas gathering system. Near the town of Valleyview, the plant has the capacity to process eleven million cubic feet.
The Edmonton Journal (Feb.13, 2001) said this: "The robust natural gas market and natural gas industry restructuring provide further opportunities to acquire and expand facilities such as Prairie River." Other articles focus on the "substantial undeveloped lands in the region." What is a reasonable amount of development? Where does it all end, if ever? And how could this place possibly be considered "undeveloped"!
Pipeline:
Then, there is the Alliance Pipeline Project. The Internet dished up this little tea tray of info (Alliance Pipeline Dec 8,1998). "The multimillion dollar contract will induce clearing about 85 km's of Alliance's main line right-of-way and about 62 km's of lateral right-of-way, and associated meter station sites. All of the contracts are generally located in the Grande Prairie-Fox Creek area in northwestern Alberta." This is basically the whole western edge of the Swan Hills.
Subterranean in nature, the Alliance Pipeline Project has more or less managed to keep itself from the public eye. Are you aware of this monstrous undertaking? How could something so massive be kept almost totally silent? Does the public deserve to know? I guess not. As suppose we are not capable of understanding such complex issues.
Forestry:
According to Klaus Toefer, director of the United Nations Environment program, only 21% of the worlds, forests are still healthy ("Healthy", meaning that at least 40% of the forest's interlocking canopy is in tact). He also stated that saving forests is a case of self-interest that will save humanity money over the long term. "Healthy forests equal healthy ecosystems."
Between 1987 and 1988, the Alberta Government gave away more than a quarter of the province (183,000 square km's) in one of the biggest land grabs in Canadian history. Basically, this meant that the entire Swan Hills region was now opened to the forestry sector – what was left of the place, that is. After 1988 it was wide open to whoever wanted to make a buck.
Improvement:
As of late, many Alberta forestry companies have been busy with some research. Private research. They call it, "tree improvement".
"By cross breeding the best trees of each variety, companies can develop new trees that are better suited to their needs and better adapted to the local environment than local varieties."
"There's a lot of different reasons why you might want to select certain characteristics-trees that grow a little bit faster, trees that are easier to pulp, trees that have better branching characteristics so they are easier to stack on a truck, trees that are better for wildlife."
"Researchers are simply giving mother nature a little boost."
Draw your own conclusions.
Old Growth:
Go back a mere thirty or forty years and the Swan Hills are still somewhat ripe with mature forest. Volumes of rain and moisture no doubt play an important role in keeping it aged. Common sense dictates that mature ecosystems should be treated with great respect; yet forestry companies go straight to these places first, claiming all kinds of perverse, self-serving reasons. Once gone, a kind of a one dimensional, sickly, generic forest will likely take its place. According to the logging companies, an old forest is wrongfully described as, "least healthy stands", "over mature" or "decadent timber".
Spraying:
"Millar Western Forest Products Ltd. of Whitecourt [south east Swan Hills] has received approval for their 2000 Vegetation Management program. As part of this program, Millar Western Forest Products Ltd. will be applying VISION and RELEASE herbicides to approximately 5,500 hectares of cutblocks. The purpose of this treatment is to reduce the level of competing vegetation on the cutblocks. The start date is Aug. 18, 2000" (Fox Creek Times, Aug 22 2000).
"Pesticides are the only chemicals in use in industrial society that can be treated as hazardous waste in one context and deliberately dispersed over the ecosystem in another" (At the Cutting Edge, Elizabeth May).
Virginia Hills
Deep within the Swan Hills there is a place known as Virginia Hills. A few years back there was an extensive forest fire. Alberta Environment offers up some literature.
"Two years after the Virginia Hills fires, Alberta Environment is giving industry and mother nature a helping hand with renewal of the forest."
"...within a matter of weeks around 24 million spruce and pine seedlings were planted. Although it will be nearly a century before the tiny trees can be harvested, life in the Virginia Hills forest is making a comeback."
Then, it went on to explain how moose, deer, black and grizzly bears are already returning to the area. Is that right? Okay, after "helping" Mother Nature, perhaps they might want to visit Mother Goose, Goofy and Fred Flintstone.
Access:
Roads, highways and cut-lines, getting form point A to Point B.
"At some point in the future, every merchantable forest stand in Alberta that is part of the allocated land base (i.e. virtually all of the green zone), will have a road constructed to it. These roads result in the loss and fragmentation of habitat, changes in animal movement patterns, soil erosion, disruption of water and fish movements, increased access by humans (resulting in increased hunting and poaching)" (Trombulak and Frissell, 2000).
"The main arterial road network, that is being constructed to provide regional access throughout Alberta's forests is intended to be permanent. There is no mention in any of the management plans of alternatives to such a permanent dispersed road network" (R. Schneider, Nov 2000).
Depending on who's doing the talking, Mother Nature might be kind of pissed off. She's showing it too: global warming, beetle spread, drought, extreme weather and any number of other little goodies.
4x4:
In Colorado's White River National Forest, a little battle is being fought: to 4x4, or not to 4x4? As covered by Time Magazine, "Early next year the Forest Service will release its final plan for White River-which may expect to foreshadow plans for other National Forests. Prospects for banging a 4x4 up Red Creek looks grim. Signs will probably go up banning anyone riding a machine, or even a bike."
How about the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, 52,900 acres in southern Oregon,
"Four ecoregions meet here..."
"This is a monument to biodiversity..."
"It's not the kind of a place you want to turn into a "playground" for off-road vehicles" (The last three quotes comes from, National Geographic, Aug 2001).
Playground:
"Swan Hills a well planned community in the heart of the wilderness playground", are the words from a brochure promoting the place.
A web-site said this, "We have about fifty miles of groomed and signed trails" said Whitecourt Trailblazers president... We maintain an additional 75 miles of Golden Triangle Trail and we just this year acquired 70 miles of trail to Silver Summit Ski Hill."
How does one acquire a trail? Can I have one too? So many questions...
"There are about 10,000 miles of cut-lines, power-lines and seismic trails as well as unused roadways in the area."
Back-Country Travel:
Just what is the Golden Triangle? Well, it is an off-road labyrinth, connecting the communities of Whitecourt, Fox Creek and the town of Swan Hills, a sizeable area. It allows easy access into two hundred and twenty miles of sub-alpine forest.
There is also the Krause Lake Snowmobile Area (102 km's of trails). There is a little brochure available from the Alberta Environmental Protection (they've got to be kidding) Land and Forest Services: "These winter trails, which generally receive above average snowfall, offer the rare opportunity to observe areas of the Swan Hills not accessible in other seasons." The map on the inside of this literature shows a maze of pipelines and cut-lines.
Grizzlies and Roads:
"Roads probably pose the most imminent threat to the grizzly bear habitat today...” (Tim Stevens, The Greater Yellowstone Coalition).
In order to survive, brown bears require vast stretches of reasonably unmolested land. All-terrain vehicles will ultimately cause extensive ecological damage. This is one topic that is easy to learn about, go to it. These activities do not have to be abolished, but there is a need to be infinitely more responsible.
The next three quotes come from the Edmonton Journal (July 16, 2002).
"The number of wildfires in Alberta caused by all-terrain vehicles has tripled in the last three years, says a new report commissioned by the province."
"The number of ATVs has nearly doubled in the past eight years from 17,000 to about 34,000, and those are just the machines that are registered in the province."
"There are tens of thousands more ATVs that are unregistered."
The Hunt:
There are thirty-nine outfitter/guiding operations, approximately thirty-seven trap-lines and a minimal sport fishing industry in the Swan Hills. With hunting ethics being discussed regularly, it would be redundant to join the battle. Still, I will say this: there is just no way that a grizzly bear should be hunted in Alberta. They already have far too much to contend with.
Conservation:
Pressing on, funding is being cut to the very conservation officers who are trying to protect wilderness areas like the Swan Hills. Again, the next three quotes came from an article in the Edmonton Journal (Nov. 7, 2001).
"A freeze on overtime for conservation officers has sparked concern that poaching won't be policed properly during the busy fall hunting season."
"If there is a spending freeze then that's a disaster, said Ayk Visscher president of the Alberta Professional Outfitters society."
"There's hardly any officers to start with..."
Hazardous Waste:
Here we go. The Swan Hills Waste Treatment Centre is befitting of a B-grade, 1950's horror movie. As if the place has not already been beaten-up enough, this facility compounds the situation. It has been an embarrassment from day one. The creepy, mind-numbing, political and environmental scenarios are never-ending. Again, there is a wealth of information on the subject. I will not linger here for too long.
Just have a look at a few headlines: Swan Hills Seen As Toxic Garbage Dump, Alberta Should Put People Before Profits, Garbage In Garbage Out, Swan Hills Discussion Continues As Protestors March, Heavy Metals And PCB's Found In Ditches Drained Form Bovar Hazardous Waste Treatment Centre at Swan Hills, New Contamination Levels Near Swan Hills Raise Concerns About Plant, Klein Government Prepared To Use Legislative Loopholes To Get Back in Hazardous Waste Business, PCB Study Worries Natives, Bovar on Hot Seat, Alberta Testing Wildlife for PCB's And Other Toxins, Poisoning Paradise. And on and on and on...
This is my personal favorite, "Government Told to Release Files on the Swan Hills..."
Here is a couple more.
"The province's Information and Privacy Commissioner has ordered the government to hand over 72 pages relating to an explosion at the Swan Hills Waste Treatment Plant" (Edmonton Journal, July 22, 2001).
"I used to take my kids and grandkids out there to fish, which I don't think anyone does anymore..."
"The non aboriginal community of Kinuso is also backing the protestors, because they are loosing a lot of people to cancer" (Swan Hills Discussions Continues As Protestors March, Rob McKinley).
There is an excellent documentary entitled, Poisoning Paradise. It examines the waste treatment facility from the perspective of local aboriginal people. I highly suggest seeing this film. At one point, a gentleman referred to the Swan Hills as "paradise". I want to shake his hand.
H2O:
Check out the next two jaw-dropping quotes. They are from Eqinox, Nov. 1999.
"Canadians use more water per capita than any other nation except the United States and have diverted more water from one basin to another than anyone else in the world. The two runners-up are the United States and the former Soviet Union; and we divert more water than the two of them together."
"The worlds renewable water consists of run-off, the water that falls as rain or snow and runs to the sea. Only one-third of global runoff is accessible to humans, and we are using half of that already. In thirty years we may be using it all. What then."
Pumping and Diverting:
"Each year Alberta Environment doles out water to industry (and all for free) from two sources: surface water (lakes and rivers) and underground aquifers. The oil patch not only soaks up a lot of river water but also uses 26% of the province's groundwater allocations. That's almost as much water consumed by rural Alberta towns annually. This water grab is most notable in the north where more than 60% of all groundwater allocations are used to produce oil" (The Thirst For Water, by Andrew Nikiforuk, 2002, Alberta Venture magazine).
In the year 2000 alone, in Alberta, forty five billion gallons of potable water was pumped form rivers, lakes and aquifers, and blasted into oil wells.
Water forces oil to the surface: the Alberta Government has allowed billions of gallons to be used in this way for the last forty years. It has a dramatic effect on streams, lakes and wells, bringing water levels down. Like other ecological damage, the consequences are wide-felt. But hey, no problem right, we've got lots. A good example is Mcleod Lake, where water has been sucked, pumped, diverted, moved, dammed, tossed around, eaten up, spilled, abused...
McLeod Lake:
From the journals of Paul Kane, sometime between 1845-48, "We again started very early in the morning, hunger waking us up earlier that usual. It is the general rule of travelling in these northern regions, to start as soon as we awake, and continue until fogged out. Daylight is of such short duration (not more than 4 or 5 hours) at this time of year, that it is taken little into account, the light of the snow and the aurora enabled the traveler to see at all hours. Our way was not very bad, in comparison with what we had come over; still we had to move on slowly form weakness, and it was not until four o'clock p.m. that we arrived at Fort Assiniboine, having traveled 250 miles in fifteen days."
"No sooner had we arrived, than all hands set to work cooking; luckily for us, the post is plentifully supplied with whitefish - indeed. It is almost the only thing they ever have to eat here which are caught in immense numbers in a small lake near the Fort, called Mcleod Lake. I never saw such large ones as those caught here. They average six and seven pounds; and one of them which I saw weighed had actually attained the enormous weight of eighteen pounds."
To the 1950's, "In December 1956, Mobil spudded three discovery gas wells in the Carson Lake area [McLeod Lake is now called Carson Pegasus Provincial Park]. Their discovery oil well was spudded in 1957. More producing wells were brought in over the next few years and construction was started on a cycling plant in 1962. The plant went on stream in dec. 1962... in 1965 there was a major addition to the plant when a liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) section was built" (The Sagitawah Saga: The Story of Whitecourt).
From the same source, "Mobil, too, had to build a network of roads and bridges here and there, to go form the main highway out to the plant and it's various wells and batteries. When Judy Creek Field operated by Esso, came in 1959, the roads built by Esso and Mobil were joined and today there is still no government built route between Swan Hills and Whitecourt-only the oil road built and maintained by Mobil and Esso."
Carson Pegasus:
Mcleod Lake was established as a provincial park in 1982. As a result, a fine report was prepared, (Nordstrom, W. 1980. Carson Pegasus Provincial Park Resource Conservation and Management Guidelines, Alta Rec. Parks, Park Div., Edmonton). The next selection of quotes comes from here.
"These [wetlands surrounding the lake] range from (1) willow/alder shorelines (2) creeks lined with alder, willow and birch, (3) fens, (4) black spruce bogs, (5) willow/alder marches, (6) floating sedge/grass mats at edges of water bodies, and (7) sedge/grass marshes."
"Fur-bearers like weasels, mink, muskrat, beaver and lynx are common".
"Woodland birds are especially plentiful; water birds such as loons, and grebes frequent the area. Western toad, wood and chorus frogs are common throughout."
"Carson Lake, formerly known as Mcleod Lake, had a native fish population, prior to 1970 composed of lake whitefish, northern pike, white suckers and burbot."
"A severe winter kill of Carson Lake in 1970 and 1971 resulted in a total kill of walleye and lake whitefish. The winter kill was the result of a drawn down in lake level by Imperial Oil pumping operations in conjunction with a series of dry years."
Blue Book:
Again, we find ourselves reading from the Atlas of Alberta Lakes. It says, "the lake level declined steadily to its historic minimum elevation of 851.05 m in May 1971. The decline was attributed to several years of low precipitation levels." Hmm, a whole section of the story appears to be conveniently missing. Oops, sorry, we forgot to mention industrial "development" again. It's interesting to note that as time goes by, "low precipitation" is the entire cause of Alberta's water problems. The Atlas of Alberta Lakes completely fails to put Imperial Oil into the equation. It would be interesting to contact the people who produced this book and ask a few questions regarding their decided lack of insight.
Incidentally, today, Mcleod Lake is stocked with rainbow trout. Throwing trout in this kind of lake is nothing short of cheap wildlife management. So much for protecting native biological diversity!
Angling in Alberta is always a fine topic of discussion. Numbers are down and the industry is struggling a bit. Over and over, drought is claimed to be the soul cause of crashing fish populations.
To finish the McLeod Lake saga, I prepared another collage: Outflow through Outlet Creek is prevented below lake elevations of 2801 feet by a water level control structure built by Imperial Oil Ltd., an earth dam erected by Mobil Oil at the stream origin at Pegasus Lake now prevents most of the water movement, north of Carson an east-west road (battery 36 road) crosses Mobil Creek, two culverts and an oil spill control structure have been placed at this crossing, an earth dam, erected at the streams origin on Pegasus Lake now prevents water movement.
Here is on more.
"Water pumping operations conducted by Mobil Oil Ltd. on Pegasus Lake with water pumping into the lake from Carson Creek. Water is then pumped out of Pegasus Lake form the pumping house on the west shore into the Judy Creek oil field. When decreasing pressures in the oil field demand more water than Mobil Oil can provide, additional water, via a 6 inch line which ties in with the Imperial Oil water line form Carson Lake, is utilized."
Lesser Slave Lake:
"Plan to withdraw Lesser Slave water has town council steamed," read the headline in the South Peace News on June 26, 2001. Is the big lake being abused again, better check it out. The very first line grabbed my attention: "The town of High Prairie will not let Lesser Slave River Municipal District No. 124 siphon off 65 million cubic meters of water from Lesser Slave Lake without a battle."
The town of High Prairie – west of the lake – is correct to be concerned. "This is basically to accommodate Slave Lake Pulp because they don't have enough water to dilute their effluent," stated the Mayor of High Prairie”. "Slave Lake Pulp withdraws approximately 9,000 cubic meters, from Lesser Slave Lake River every day. After treatment, they return 97% of that. Other industries, include the M.D. withdraw large amounts every day as well."
A few months down the road (Nov. 17, 2001), from the same publication, there is yet another article. Slave Lake's disastrously low water level is the discussion, "Good heavens, does anybody know just how far these guys are going to go? When do we turn off the tap, if ever?"
Falling Water Levels:
While important water issues rage in the north, they are barely mentioned elsewhere. I rarely, if ever, catch wind of them in Edmonton. Let's face it, the cat lady at the end of the block is more newsworthy than snoozer topics like a descending lake. Yet, these are serious public concerns and should be of great interest to everybody. In fact, they are more than just "serious", a look into Alberta's not too distant future will see water issues as critically important. I guarantee it.
Slave Lake Town:
"With the completion of the seventh plant in 1990, Esso's Judy Creek Gas Plant complex will be capable of processing 7.4 million cubic metres of natural gas per day, and will boost more engine and compression horsepower than all the other Esso operations combined." (Pipe Line To The Past, the History of Swan Hills and District, 1994)
More than three million hectares of land, in the Marten Mountain area, is being controlled by the forestry business. According to the town of Slave Lake, locals are involved in mining, quarry, and the oil and gas sector. The Mitsue Lake Industrial Park is close by too. Take a look at some of the industrial activity in the Slave Lake neighborhood - quite impressive.
All these things add up. A couple of years ago I saw a public notice in the weekly Fox Creek newspaper stating that "the town of Fox Creek has applied to Alberta Environment for an amendment to an existing approval to construct a storm water pipe and an outfall for improvements to Highway Avenue. The storm water will be collected from Highway Avenue and will be discharged directly into the existing median ditch of Highway 43, which ultimately leads to Fox Creek."
I almost forgot this, "Devon's Wapiti sour gas plant, for example, accepts gas from five nearby wells, but does nothing to it except remove water. The gas is sent by pipeline to Fox Creek, nearly 200km away, for sulphur removal. Instead of having a lot of little plants, it's better to have a few bigger ones with all the equipment to cut emissions..." (Edmonton Journal, July 9, 2002).
Why does everything horrible always end up in the Swan Hills?
"The Alberta Forest Service provides softwood permits for use by local residents in areas such as Debolt, Whitemud, Crooked Creek, Valleyview and Little Smoky. These permits are offered on an annual basis and provide wood for small local mills. Until recently, the harvesting of forested areas around Valleyview were usually undertaken by small sawmill operators. Now indications show that larger scale harvesting could occur to the extensive deciduous stands around the town."
The harvesting of hardwoods is also being increased in the Valleyview area. The oil and gas industry is heavily rooted here, too, of course. It is further disturbing to see how large-scale forestry companies ruthlessly push out small, locally owned operators.
Well, how 'bout them there bears? Go to Part 3 - The Exploitation of the Swan Hills
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