AER approves Suncor’s tailings management plan for Fort Hills mine

CALGARY- The Alberta Energy Regulator has conditionally approved a tailings management plan for Suncor Energy’s Fort Hills oilsands mine.

That’s despite its failure to meet milestones and reliance on an unproven reclamation method.

Tailings ponds store water used in the oilsands mining process that is notoriously difficult to reclaim because it has been contaminated with fine clay particles, oil and other chemicals.

Suncor is proposing to chemically treat its tailings, concentrate them all in a single deposit by 2073 and then cover the residue with water to create a large pit lake.