Keepers of the Athabasca Press Release on LARP

Keepers of the Athabasca Press Release on LARP Press Release by Keepers of the Athabasca, August 27, 2012
The Government of Alberta’s Lower Athabasca Regional Plan (LARP), which comes into effect on September 1, will allow the current irresponsible development of the oil sands to continue into the foreseeable future, according to the Keepers of the Athabasca Watershed Council. “LARP claims that the province is committed to responsible development of the oil sands, but admits that it does not have the scientific data or the management system to back up this commitment. Even so, it is going full speed ahead in approving new projects,” says Keepers Board member Helene Walsh. … LARP states that the Governments of Canada and Alberta have developed a plan to put in place a world class monitoring program for the oil sands that will be implemented over the next three years. One of the objectives of the Joint Implementation Plan is to improve characterization of the state of the environment and collect the information necessary to understand cumulative effects. … “The government’s own regulations require them to determine cumulative effects, but they have not been doing so. Essentially they are breaking their own rules,” Walsh points out. … Meanwhile, applications and approvals for in situ developments are proceeding at an ever-increasing pace. More than ten applications for new or expanded in situ projects are currently under consideration by the Energy Resources Conservation Board.

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