During the past several days, I've written extensively about Canada's oil sands, how they are produced, and the environmental programs that convert the disturbed land into meadows, forests and lakes. Today, in my final post about last week's oil sands tour, I want to provide you with some basic facts that often don't appear in news articles about oil sands development.

First, the maximum area identified for oil sands mining is slightly more than 1 percent of Alberta's boreal forest area, which encompasses 147,100 square miles. Put another way, the oil sands exist in an area about the size of Lake Superior and Lake Huron, with the amount of lan... more »

So you mine the oil sands, extract the oil, reclaim the land--and then what do you do? At the Syncrude oil sands operation in Alberta, you start a bison ranch--wood bison, to be specific.

Approximately 300 of these big, shaggy mammals live on nearly 1,730 acres of reclaimed land that used to be an oil sands mine. Today the former mine comprises several pastures where the bison graze and rid themselves of insects by rolling in the dirt or rubbing against scratching posts. They live a good life with plenty of food and water, and with freedom from the diseases that are threatening the existence of the species.

According to Syncrude's environmental managers, Canada's wild wood bison herd is suffering from tuberculosis and anthrax--deadly diseases that could lead to extinction. To ensure the l... more »

Did you know that today is National 811 Day? It's a date set aside by the Common Ground Alliance (CGA) to promote awareness of underground utilities through the use of the nationwide "811" call-in number for individuals, companies and governments preparing to dig.

And in Georgia, Colonial Pipeline has finished painting a set of its giant storage tanks with the "811 - Call Before You Dig" emblem as part of its efforts to prevent damage to underground utilities.

Companies like Colonial work to improve safety records every day. The petroleum storage tanks provide a big canvas for reminding homeowners, farmers and contractors - even local governments - to call the national toll-free number before beginning a digging or excavation project.

Colonial, whose pipeline extends from Houston to the N... more »

Day Two of the oil sands tour, August 7 - About 60 kilometers southeast of Ft. McMurray, Alberta, ConocoPhillips is producing crude oil from oil sands using a process called in-situ development. In concept, in-situ development sounds fairly simple. The oil sands are heated underground with steam, gravity pulls the hot oil down toward a wellbore, and the oil is brought to the surface.

Simple, right? Not really. In actuality, the process requires high-tech engineering, precise execution and the ability to see underground using sophisticated seismic testing and monitoring equipment.

At ConocoPhillips' Surmont location, the oil sands are too deep for mining operations. Situated in a forest, the Surmont facility is producing 19,000 barrels of oil per day and is ramping up to produce 27,000... more »

Day one of the oil sands tour, Aug. 6 - We're standing in a quarry where a steady stream of 380-ton to 400-ton, multi-story vehicles roll in and out, accepting loads of oil sands. As soon as one vehicle is loaded, another one takes its place next to the huge shovel that scrapes the oil sands from the black, sandy quarry wall.

These carefully coordinated activities are repeated hundreds of times a day by the workers who are mining and processing Canadian oil sands at this Syncrude facility. As soon as the trucks are loaded, they roll toward the processing facility where the oil sands are used to produce about 350,000 barrels of light, sweet crude oil every day.

This type of efficiency, precision and planning is the hallmark of Syncrude's development of the Athabascan oil sands deposits in A... more »