Regulator gives conditional approval to Shell for oil sands expansion
10 July 2013
Despite what it called “significant adverse environmental project effects” the Joint Review Panel has granted conditional Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) approval to Shell Canada Energy to construct and operate the proposed Jackpine Mine Expansion project in the oil sands. The Panel has made 88 recommendations to the federal and provincial governments. The Panel also sets out 22 conditions for Shell.
The expansion would include additional mining areas and associated processing facilities, utilities and infrastructure. The project would be located about 70 km north of Fort McMurray on the east side of the Athabasca River. The project would increase bitumen production by 15,900 cubic meters per day, bringing production at the mine to 47,700 cubic meters per day.
Although the Panel has concluded that the Project is in the public interest, project and cumulative effects for key environmental parameters and socioeconomic impacts in the region have weighed heavily in the Panel’s assessment. In approving this Project, the Panel has set new approval conditions for mining operations, resource conservation, tailings management, groundwater, EPLs, and reclamation.
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