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Cameron admits awe at scale of Alberta oilsands operations
| edmontonjournal.com | Keith Gerein | September 29, 2010
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FORT MCMURRAY — James Cameron’s sightseeing around the Alberta oilsands Tuesday seemed to make a big impression on the Hollywood director, and may have helped him gain a new appreciation for the complex issues surrounding the industry, Environment Minister Rob Renner says.
Renner, who accompanied Cameron for his morning tour of the Syncrude facility north of Fort McMurray, suggested he didn’t see much of the man who earlier this year called the industry a black eye on Canada’s environmental record.
“He may have (previously) had the impression that there was very little regard for the environment, little regard for regulation and a lack of respect for First Nations people,” Renner said. “On all those accounts, I think he left with a better impression.”
Cameron seemed to back up Renner’s assessment, indicating he was awed by both the massive scale of the oilsands projects and the diffi cult issues they have created.
“When you fly over it, from a distance you see how much of the natural landscape is being affected. So it’s important to understand what the long-term impacts of that are and what the short-term impacts are in terms of health and environment for the First Nations communities,” the Avatar director said after about an hour at the Syncrude site.
“Everybody has got their perspective on it and I don’t think anybody’s doing anything irrational. It’s just a question of how these perspectives need to be reconciled.”
One of his first stops on the ground was a reclaimed slough known as Bill’s Lake. Standing on a dock extending over the water and reeds, he could be seen having an animated discussion with Renner and Jim Lorentz, a technology development officer with Syncrude.
Outfitted in a green hardhat, fluorescent vest and rubber boots, Cameron said he had not yet formed any firm conclusions on his “fact-finding mission” about the oilsands. His initial plan was to have conducted his visit more “stealthily,” but the increased media attention around it has been good because it has given people in the region, including aboriginal groups, the opportunity to have their perspectives heard on a wide stage, he said.
“I’m still in sponge mode, finding out how all this works and getting my arms around it, conceptually,” he said over the background sound of noise cannons, which fire every so often to scare birds away from the tailings ponds.
“The reclamation task is on the one hand quite daunting, and on the other hand absolutely necessary.”
Syncrude spokeswoman Cheryl Robb said the company mostly focused on showing Cameron its reclamation efforts and environmental achievements because there wasn’t time for him to see all aspects of the industry.
She said he asked a lot of questions. Discussions included topics such as sulphur-reduction eff orts, greenhouse-gas control and climate change.
Following his visit at Syncrude, Cameron had an aerial tour of Suncor’s oilsands facility, and stopped to investigate an in-situ operation near Christina Lake.
In-situ techniques avoid open-pit mining and instead inject steam into the ground to help bring the oil to the surface.
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Cameron+tours+Syncrude+facility+near+Fort+McMurray/3591032/story.html#ixzz10vbzBjxY
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