The Alberta NDP says a leaked government document shows the province’s new oilsands reclamation fund will come up billions of dollars short and leave future generations on the hook for the cleanup.
The government’s new Mine Financial Security Program, of which there was no public consultation, will collect $400 million less than the current plan over the next nine years.
After that, oilsands players will have to incrementally pay out more, with the province receiving $6 billion more than it would under the existing program by 2030.
However, the NDP’s environment critic says that will still fall far short of the estimated $30 billion needed to clean up oilsands operations, leaving “taxpayers grossly exposed.”
“All of this is based on the oil industry’s own assessment of what it will cost to clean up,” says Rachel Notley. “And there’s an incredible history in the mining industry of underestimating.”
When asked in the legislature why the public was left in the dark while the province drew up the new plan, allegedly with industry input, Environment Minister Rob Renner replied: “This is not the kind of issue that would entail a broad-based public consultation.”
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