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(water trickles)
2
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(dramatic music)
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00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:29,570
- [Narrator] Canada is now
the number one supplier of oil
4
00:00:29,570 --> 00:00:31,390
to the United States.
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00:00:31,390 --> 00:00:34,600
Most of that oil is
coming from the tar sands
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00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,070
in Northern Alberta, Canada.
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00:00:37,070 --> 00:00:41,000
The tar sands of the biggest
oil project in the world,
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00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,786
but this is an oil industry
with an insatiable thirst.
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00:00:45,786 --> 00:00:49,773
- We use 3.3 barrels of
water per barrel of bitumen.
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00:00:50,610 --> 00:00:52,030
- [Narrator] The current
rates of production
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00:00:52,030 --> 00:00:54,870
in the tar sands are at a
million and a half barrels
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00:00:54,870 --> 00:00:55,883
of oil a day.
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00:00:57,480 --> 00:01:01,373
- We could be dealing with a
water versus oil situation.
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00:01:02,890 --> 00:01:04,900
- [Narrator] The tar sands use fresh water
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00:01:04,900 --> 00:01:07,090
to separate oil from sand.
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This turns the water into toxic sludge.
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00:01:10,310 --> 00:01:14,240
Canada is now a world
leader in waste production.
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- We're talking about waste dumps
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00:01:15,910 --> 00:01:17,310
that you can see from space.
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00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:21,680
- [Narrator] To find out
where the tar sands get
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00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,910
their water from, you
have to go to the source.
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00:01:24,910 --> 00:01:27,370
The source is the Columbia ice fields
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00:01:27,370 --> 00:01:29,910
in Jasper National Park.
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00:01:29,910 --> 00:01:31,580
This glaciated landscape
25
00:01:31,580 --> 00:01:34,770
is supplying major
multinational corporations
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00:01:34,770 --> 00:01:37,430
with the fresh water resources they need
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00:01:37,430 --> 00:01:40,350
to fill people's gas tanks.
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But this ice and snow is fast disappearing
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under the relentless
assault of climate change.
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- The glaciers, they're just
almost being decapitated.
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00:01:50,406 --> 00:01:53,156
(dramatic music)
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00:01:54,490 --> 00:01:57,070
- [Narrator] These
places are worlds apart,
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00:01:57,070 --> 00:01:59,780
yet connected by a threat.
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00:01:59,780 --> 00:02:02,540
This is a journey from ice fields
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00:02:04,060 --> 00:02:05,373
to oil fields.
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00:02:08,672 --> 00:02:12,505
(soft music)
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♪ [Woman] If they blow
hole in my backyard ♪
38
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♪ Everyone is gonna run away ♪
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♪ And the creeks won't flow
to the great lake below ♪
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00:02:31,098 --> 00:02:36,098
♪ Or the water in the
world still get a care. ♪
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♪ We'll keep driving ♪
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00:02:42,950 --> 00:02:46,925
♪ on the blind line ♪
43
00:02:46,925 --> 00:02:51,925
♪ If we don't know where ♪
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00:02:52,030 --> 00:02:56,414
♪ we wanna go ♪
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♪ Even now is just sound ♪
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00:03:01,507 --> 00:03:06,507
♪ can get water down ♪
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♪ Truth get tossed out ♪
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♪ the car window ♪
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00:03:16,093 --> 00:03:19,582
♪ Truth get tossed out ♪
50
00:03:19,582 --> 00:03:24,582
♪ the car window ♪
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00:03:25,022 --> 00:03:27,401
♪ If they blow a hole ♪
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00:03:27,401 --> 00:03:29,370
♪ in back lawn ♪
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00:03:29,370 --> 00:03:34,370
♪ The one that run across
muscles of the land ♪
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00:03:34,388 --> 00:03:39,080
♪ Oh we might get a low
storm for the road ♪
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00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:44,080
♪ But I don't know how
much longer it can stand ♪
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(water splashes)
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00:03:51,900 --> 00:03:53,790
- I've always been a lover of water
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00:03:53,790 --> 00:03:55,700
in all of its forms.
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00:03:55,700 --> 00:03:57,160
I love it when it hibernates up
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00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,870
in the quiet glacial landscapes.
61
00:03:59,870 --> 00:04:02,653
I love it when it comes to
life further downstream.
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00:04:03,550 --> 00:04:05,773
It's my work, it's my play.
63
00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,743
My body is made up of two
thirds of this substance.
64
00:04:10,770 --> 00:04:12,660
My Name is David lavallee.
65
00:04:12,660 --> 00:04:15,780
I work as a hiking guide
in the Canadian Rockies.
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00:04:15,780 --> 00:04:18,329
Over the years I've witnessed
some startling changes
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00:04:18,329 --> 00:04:20,773
to the glacial ice in this area.
68
00:04:20,773 --> 00:04:23,190
(soft music)
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(wind whistles)
(snow crunches)
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00:04:40,356 --> 00:04:42,645
- Is there snow out there, David?
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00:04:42,645 --> 00:04:43,920
- Yeah, a little bit.
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00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,510
(snow crunches)
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00:04:46,510 --> 00:04:48,637
- It's' good travel though.
- Good.
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00:04:50,380 --> 00:04:53,800
- Ken, Nevia and I are hiking
to the top of Mount Snow Dome,
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00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,043
the frozen source of the Athabasca River.
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00:04:56,043 --> 00:04:58,710
(snow crunches)
77
00:05:05,660 --> 00:05:08,010
In this rapidly changing glacial world,
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00:05:08,010 --> 00:05:10,250
the regular rules for
safe mountain traveled
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00:05:10,250 --> 00:05:13,891
no longer apply and on this
journey, I get surprised.
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(lightening thunders)
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- Through the hole.
- What just happened?
82
00:05:18,779 --> 00:05:20,051
- David?
- What just happened?
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00:05:20,051 --> 00:05:24,083
- One of the quite light
- (shovels snow) Yeah.
84
00:05:24,083 --> 00:05:26,133
- I need some of your hardware, you guys.
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- He took about a 30 foot tall.
86
00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:32,050
It's a very deep glacier.
87
00:05:34,010 --> 00:05:36,720
- I'm gonna let you know when
we're gonna start the haul,
88
00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:37,868
if you'll hold onto that a little bit.
89
00:05:37,868 --> 00:05:40,356
Okay man, get.
- All right.
90
00:05:40,356 --> 00:05:43,819
(dramatic music)
(Grunts)
91
00:05:43,819 --> 00:05:45,986
- There we go?
- Pull.
92
00:05:47,670 --> 00:05:48,954
(shouting) I got far David.
- You okay?
93
00:05:48,954 --> 00:05:52,150
- One, two, you ready Dave?
- Just throw it.
94
00:05:52,150 --> 00:05:55,813
- One, two, three.
(David groans)
95
00:05:58,490 --> 00:06:00,736
- Okay, I got the duck
walk (exhales loudly).
96
00:06:00,736 --> 00:06:02,336
- You okay, a little more?
97
00:06:02,336 --> 00:06:07,336
- You could just... I can't
move my, just manhandled me.
98
00:06:07,427 --> 00:06:08,713
That's it, yeah.
99
00:06:08,713 --> 00:06:11,106
- (all) ooooooohh.
100
00:06:11,106 --> 00:06:13,050
- Get up boy.
- Ooh.
101
00:06:13,050 --> 00:06:15,860
- I was just walking and all
of a sudden next thing I knew
102
00:06:15,860 --> 00:06:16,903
I was just falling,
103
00:06:18,470 --> 00:06:19,303
long way,
104
00:06:20,220 --> 00:06:22,180
blue ice walls rushing past me
105
00:06:22,180 --> 00:06:24,260
and then the rope came tight, thank God.
106
00:06:24,260 --> 00:06:27,060
Thanks, good catch, good catch Nevia.
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00:06:27,060 --> 00:06:29,470
It closes off at that end and that end.
108
00:06:29,470 --> 00:06:32,283
I'm just glad I felt here
because had I fallen over there
109
00:06:32,283 --> 00:06:33,740
I would have nailed something,
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00:06:33,740 --> 00:06:37,271
I would have broken a femur or
something on a shelf of ice.
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00:06:37,271 --> 00:06:42,271
Had I fell anywhere like,
oh, angel on my shoulders,
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- Yeah it was good from there
113
00:06:43,643 --> 00:06:46,557
- Angel on my shoulders, oh God.
114
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I climbed Mount Snow Dome 10 years ago.
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00:06:53,070 --> 00:06:54,900
There were no crevasses here.
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It's too high in the
mountain for crevasses.
117
00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,650
Warm temperatures are
getting at the glaciers,
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even at 11,000 feet.
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- There we go.
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- Yeah, hoo.
- Come on&.
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Here we are.
122
00:07:07,820 --> 00:07:10,610
This is kinda like the water
summit of North America.
123
00:07:10,610 --> 00:07:13,820
It's like the Mount
Everest of water resources.
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00:07:13,820 --> 00:07:16,390
- [Narrator] Mount Snow Dome
is the hydrographic apex
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00:07:16,390 --> 00:07:17,920
of North America.
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00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:21,020
A drop of water borne on
its summit will end up
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00:07:21,020 --> 00:07:23,980
in one of three oceans, the Arctic,
128
00:07:23,980 --> 00:07:26,053
the Atlantic or the Pacific.
129
00:07:27,710 --> 00:07:30,050
- Shawn Marshall was the
first person to explain to me
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00:07:30,050 --> 00:07:32,173
what was going on in these ice fields.
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00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:38,670
- The ice loss in the
last 10 years, 15 years,
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has been more than anyone forecast.
133
00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:42,950
The last year, really good year,
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00:07:42,950 --> 00:07:45,930
where the glacier was
gained to mass was 1977.
135
00:07:45,930 --> 00:07:48,050
So, we're looking at about 30 years now
136
00:07:48,050 --> 00:07:49,460
if it's sustained retreat.
137
00:07:49,460 --> 00:07:52,360
One of the most critical
signs we've really seen
138
00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:54,910
in the glaciers is they're
losing snow all the way
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to the top.
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They're just almost being decapitated
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that this accumulation area
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where you're supposed
to be banking some snow
143
00:08:01,690 --> 00:08:03,870
isn't even keeping it's winter snow.
144
00:08:03,870 --> 00:08:06,830
That's a fairly new thing
in the past few years.
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00:08:06,830 --> 00:08:10,870
If this is the new reality, you know,
146
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a lot of years like this just
means that the whole glacier
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is his way out of equilibrium.
148
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The whole thing will be gone.
149
00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,670
- [David] If the changes
are this dramatic here
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00:08:18,670 --> 00:08:19,650
at the source,
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I wonder what the ripple
effect is downstream.
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- So you guys can I get me
how much water is needed
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00:08:25,630 --> 00:08:29,940
for the oil sands operations
versus the amount of snow
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and ice that can really be
supplied to the Athabasca
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00:08:32,950 --> 00:08:36,799
for fossil fuel based economy
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00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:40,600
and consumers that are hooked
on it are really driving
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a warming which is driving
the demise of ice fields
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like the Athabasca
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and yet at the same time,
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the oil sands really depends on the water
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from this Athabasca River.
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It's a strange circular irony.
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- I certainly heard about the
tar sands as a kid growing up
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00:08:54,380 --> 00:08:57,860
in Alberta but they were
always the small project.
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Now it's apparently quite
huge, lots of water,
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00:09:00,850 --> 00:09:02,070
lots of waste.
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All of it unfolding at the
other end of this river.
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This river connects me to this industry
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00:09:06,820 --> 00:09:09,923
but I know very little about
what happens in the tar sands.
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00:09:11,410 --> 00:09:13,300
Basically what we're gonna
do is we're gonna follow
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an imaginary drop of water
from the hydrographic apex,
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Mount Snow Dome all the
way to Lake Athabasca,
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so the entire Athabasca River watersheds.
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The idea is we're going to
follow that drop of water
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00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:29,447
and see what kind of things
it gets subjected to.
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(soft music)
(water trickles)
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00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:37,679
(water rushes)
(soft music)
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When you've seen the beauty
of this place and realize,
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00:09:41,270 --> 00:09:42,908
oh, I'm watering my lawn with this
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00:09:42,908 --> 00:09:45,692
(laughs).
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♪ Came up to the wa-lley ♪
182
00:09:48,302 --> 00:09:51,001
♪ From my feet to knee ♪
183
00:09:51,001 --> 00:09:53,824
♪ Played my heels in pasture ♪
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00:09:53,824 --> 00:09:58,824
♪ Felt the same giving inch
all the people bath it ♪
185
00:09:59,630 --> 00:10:02,134
♪ 'Till came from day ♪
186
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♪ Smile my win win ♪
187
00:10:04,688 --> 00:10:05,521
- I Got to grab to jump ahead
188
00:10:05,521 --> 00:10:07,871
♪ to shower men, ♪
189
00:10:07,871 --> 00:10:12,871
♪ take me down to the water ♪
190
00:10:13,566 --> 00:10:18,566
♪ Fare you well with the do the shallow ♪
191
00:10:18,935 --> 00:10:23,935
♪ That's my name, that's my brethren ♪
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♪ Shore on the line, ♪
193
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♪ on my own ♪
194
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- I pull up the river
in the town of Jasper
195
00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:35,930
where I meet up with Ben
Gadd, author, geologist
196
00:10:35,930 --> 00:10:37,540
and environmental activist.
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00:10:37,540 --> 00:10:40,250
He informs me that
something other than water
198
00:10:40,250 --> 00:10:42,900
will soon be flowing through
this pristine landscape.
199
00:10:45,789 --> 00:10:48,980
(metal clunks)
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00:10:48,980 --> 00:10:50,700
I have to know the mission and the mandate
201
00:10:50,700 --> 00:10:52,900
of Parks Canada to work in the parks.
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00:10:52,900 --> 00:10:55,370
So the mission and the mandate
is to preserve and protect,
203
00:10:55,370 --> 00:10:58,050
and leave a legacy for future generations.
204
00:10:58,050 --> 00:11:00,310
And then I find out that
they've actually allowed
205
00:11:00,310 --> 00:11:03,783
a pipeline carrying tar
sands oil through the park.
206
00:11:05,050 --> 00:11:06,760
How did this happen?
207
00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:09,770
- There was already a
pipeline in the park dating
208
00:11:09,770 --> 00:11:13,300
from 1953 that went through like that.
209
00:11:13,300 --> 00:11:15,410
Even though the national
park care had to be changed
210
00:11:15,410 --> 00:11:17,340
to allow it at that time.
211
00:11:17,340 --> 00:11:19,066
The simple Order-in-Council, you know,
212
00:11:19,066 --> 00:11:22,710
and it when it was done and
then the tar sands came on,
213
00:11:22,710 --> 00:11:26,120
as we all know, and now
you have this huge line up
214
00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,700
of billion dollar companies
going back to the government
215
00:11:28,700 --> 00:11:30,927
of Canada and saying,
216
00:11:30,927 --> 00:11:34,297
"you know what, we need to get
more oil from the tar sands,
217
00:11:34,297 --> 00:11:35,447
"but would increase it
218
00:11:35,447 --> 00:11:39,857
"to get this 45,000,000 liters per day
219
00:11:39,857 --> 00:11:42,520
"of crude oil going
through Jasper everyday,"
220
00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:44,910
world heritage site, right
up there with Stonehenge
221
00:11:44,910 --> 00:11:48,260
and its value to the world
and that is what was approved
222
00:11:48,260 --> 00:11:50,710
by the government and by Parks Canada
223
00:11:50,710 --> 00:11:53,160
with no major public hearings.
224
00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:54,450
Since then, there's been a lot
225
00:11:54,450 --> 00:11:56,280
of new environmental
legislation, you know,
226
00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:58,410
clean water, clean air
and all these things.
227
00:11:58,410 --> 00:12:00,450
If the federal government
had wanted to challenge
228
00:12:00,450 --> 00:12:02,920
this thing, I have no
doubt they could have
229
00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:04,950
but they didn't want to because by now
230
00:12:04,950 --> 00:12:08,270
it's not just the Alberta oil
fields sending the oil out
231
00:12:08,270 --> 00:12:10,770
through this pipeline, it's the tar sands
232
00:12:10,770 --> 00:12:12,610
which is huge, huge.
233
00:12:12,610 --> 00:12:15,600
- [Narrator] Carrying
tar sands crude is risky,
234
00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,720
whether it's through
undisturbed wilderness
235
00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:19,740
or busy city streets.
236
00:12:19,740 --> 00:12:22,810
Kinder Morgan, the same
company building the pipeline
237
00:12:22,810 --> 00:12:25,720
through Jasper was
responsible for a rupture
238
00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:28,993
of a pipeline carrying
crude through Vancouver.
239
00:12:30,665 --> 00:12:33,180
- What's going on, What is it?
240
00:12:33,180 --> 00:12:36,149
Why are they not stopping it?
241
00:12:36,149 --> 00:12:38,969
- [Man] They're gonna probably
have to evacuate houses.
242
00:12:38,969 --> 00:12:39,802
(dramatic music)
243
00:12:39,802 --> 00:12:42,780
- Toxic crude was washed down storm drains
244
00:12:42,780 --> 00:12:44,483
and into the Pacific Ocean.
245
00:12:46,460 --> 00:12:48,190
- What kind of industry has the power
246
00:12:48,190 --> 00:12:52,030
to overturn federal laws
protecting national parks?
247
00:12:52,030 --> 00:12:54,183
In order to find out, I
continued traveling down
248
00:12:54,183 --> 00:12:57,780
the Athabasca River through
Jasper to Fort McMurray
249
00:12:57,780 --> 00:13:00,180
where I will be joining
a flotilla paddling past
250
00:13:00,180 --> 00:13:01,553
the tar sands plants.
251
00:13:04,250 --> 00:13:06,630
- My name is Don Van Hout
and I'm the expedition leader
252
00:13:06,630 --> 00:13:09,070
for the Athabasca River expedition
253
00:13:09,070 --> 00:13:11,120
which we're calling Connecting the Drops.
254
00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:15,610
There's a few hints of industry going on,
255
00:13:15,610 --> 00:13:17,230
like it looks natural
when you're on the river
256
00:13:17,230 --> 00:13:19,510
you can't see what's
going on above the banks
257
00:13:19,510 --> 00:13:21,800
but we're going to place called Tar Island
258
00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,750
where all the dangerous
chemicals are held back
259
00:13:24,750 --> 00:13:29,383
from flowing into the
Athabasca River by sand hill.
260
00:13:30,900 --> 00:13:33,160
To me, this is kind of
ground zero for this river.
261
00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:35,760
This is where it all comes together.
262
00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:38,220
This is where it needs the most help
263
00:13:38,220 --> 00:13:41,330
and international attention,
like 23 percent of the province
264
00:13:41,330 --> 00:13:43,094
is gonna be impacted by this stuff.
265
00:13:43,094 --> 00:13:44,305
(water trickles)
266
00:13:44,305 --> 00:13:46,613
Sir, I think I can kind of see,
267
00:13:46,613 --> 00:13:48,640
(water trickles)
268
00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:51,810
the mineral resource that
they are looking for here.
269
00:13:51,810 --> 00:13:54,310
Bitumen there is no
spiking cliffs over there.
270
00:13:54,310 --> 00:13:55,460
kind of looks all black
271
00:13:58,290 --> 00:14:00,720
- [Narrator} Bitumen is the
product and the tar sands
272
00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:05,580
that is upgraded than refined
to make synthetic oil.
273
00:14:05,580 --> 00:14:08,230
- Say the natives used to
patch their canoes with it.
274
00:14:10,269 --> 00:14:14,317
Now it's being touted
as the solution to all
275
00:14:14,317 --> 00:14:16,223
of our energy problems.
276
00:14:17,770 --> 00:14:19,130
- We've come to the point
where we have altered
277
00:14:19,130 --> 00:14:21,510
our landscape that we
don't have to participate
278
00:14:21,510 --> 00:14:24,350
in the outdoors anymore
or with anything natural
279
00:14:24,350 --> 00:14:26,100
in order to get by in or day to day lives
280
00:14:26,100 --> 00:14:27,590
like thinking about where our food comes
281
00:14:27,590 --> 00:14:29,880
from the grocery store, right?
282
00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:31,560
It's not from the land.
283
00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:34,380
A lot of people are just so far removed
284
00:14:34,380 --> 00:14:37,960
that they can take and scoop
up two tons of of earth,
285
00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:40,620
throw it in a truck, drive
it away and make a barrel
286
00:14:40,620 --> 00:14:41,530
of oil out of it.
287
00:14:41,530 --> 00:14:43,330
And all this stuff that was living on top
288
00:14:43,330 --> 00:14:45,310
of it gets pushed up in a pile.
289
00:14:45,310 --> 00:14:48,060
(dramatic music)
290
00:15:13,954 --> 00:15:18,954
♪The sunshine still trying ♪
291
00:15:23,270 --> 00:15:28,270
♪ Tell me what myth lies to you ♪
292
00:15:29,596 --> 00:15:33,096
♪ What secrets uncovered ♪
293
00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:52,850
- When you switch from
light conventional oil
294
00:15:52,850 --> 00:15:56,800
to something as dirty,
ugly and nasty as bitumen,
295
00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:58,860
business as usual has ended.
296
00:15:58,860 --> 00:16:01,710
It's a signature of peak oil.
297
00:16:01,710 --> 00:16:03,910
And the fact that we are now exploiting
298
00:16:03,910 --> 00:16:06,690
this project tells us that we've run out
299
00:16:06,690 --> 00:16:07,940
of the cheap stuff, right?
300
00:16:07,940 --> 00:16:11,770
Like it's like we've run
out of big fish in the ocean
301
00:16:11,770 --> 00:16:16,480
and so now we're after this
the small, bony, a cruddy stuff
302
00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,660
and that costs more to
produce, costs more energy.
303
00:16:19,660 --> 00:16:22,620
We make more environmental sacrifices
304
00:16:22,620 --> 00:16:24,263
where it's bottom of the barrel.
305
00:16:25,900 --> 00:16:28,800
- I think one of the frustrations
that we have in industry
306
00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:33,070
is that a lot of our critics
won't take the time to come
307
00:16:33,070 --> 00:16:34,993
and learn about what we're doing.
308
00:16:36,690 --> 00:16:41,090
They'll sort of look at the
operations from one perspective,
309
00:16:41,090 --> 00:16:43,830
but they won't come back
and look at the research
310
00:16:43,830 --> 00:16:46,590
that we're doing and look at
some of the positive results
311
00:16:46,590 --> 00:16:47,450
that we have.
312
00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:51,410
- There's trees on top of the muskeg.
313
00:16:51,410 --> 00:16:55,310
The timber companies come
in, remove the trees.
314
00:16:55,310 --> 00:16:59,377
We peel back the different
layers of muskeg and subsoils
315
00:16:59,377 --> 00:17:00,713
and we stockpiled them.
316
00:17:01,710 --> 00:17:04,680
Then we go in and we
remove the overburden clays
317
00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:08,150
and the tills, and we
build deck structures,
318
00:17:08,150 --> 00:17:11,792
and a formations, dumps and
stuff like that with them.
319
00:17:13,030 --> 00:17:17,030
Underneath, there's the
bitumen, we mine the Bitumen,
320
00:17:17,030 --> 00:17:18,470
take it to extraction.
321
00:17:18,470 --> 00:17:21,560
They rented the oil off,
send it to upgrading
322
00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,880
and they send the sand
back into behind the dikes,
323
00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:25,953
into the ponds.
324
00:17:27,420 --> 00:17:31,070
- We use 3.3 barrels of
water per barrel of bitumen.
325
00:17:31,070 --> 00:17:32,870
So that's the intensity measure
326
00:17:32,870 --> 00:17:35,340
that we're working very hard to reduce.
327
00:17:35,340 --> 00:17:38,610
- Is it possible at
any point in the future
328
00:17:38,610 --> 00:17:40,300
with huge increase production
329
00:17:40,300 --> 00:17:42,683
that you'll ever actually
run out of water to do
330
00:17:42,683 --> 00:17:46,930
what you need to do, given
expanding production.
331
00:17:46,930 --> 00:17:50,001
- It's an industry's best
interest to look this river
332
00:17:50,001 --> 00:17:53,163
and to decrease our water use.
333
00:17:55,710 --> 00:17:59,670
It's expensive to be mismanaging water.
334
00:17:59,670 --> 00:18:04,620
It's expensive to store
water and we care as much
335
00:18:04,620 --> 00:18:06,710
about water as a resource as the rest
336
00:18:06,710 --> 00:18:07,730
of our stakeholders do.
337
00:18:07,730 --> 00:18:09,750
It's an important part of our process
338
00:18:09,750 --> 00:18:12,190
and it's in our best interests to ensure
339
00:18:12,190 --> 00:18:14,241
that we're managing that resource wisely.
340
00:18:14,241 --> 00:18:16,240
- The water allocations to this river,
341
00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,480
specific to the oil sands
is less three percent
342
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:21,760
of the mid annual flow.
343
00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:26,630
So the water, there isn't a
large allocation on this river.
344
00:18:26,630 --> 00:18:28,270
- So I was reading in
the Edmonton Journal,
345
00:18:28,270 --> 00:18:29,900
sort of this back and forth between you
346
00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:32,450
and Preston McEachern
from Alberta Environment
347
00:18:32,450 --> 00:18:34,910
about the flows and it seems like you guys
348
00:18:34,910 --> 00:18:37,100
have different views on whether the flows
349
00:18:37,100 --> 00:18:39,030
are really declining.
350
00:18:39,030 --> 00:18:42,030
- Well, Preston likes to
quote these annual flows
351
00:18:42,030 --> 00:18:45,700
and the tiny proportion
of they manual flows,
352
00:18:45,700 --> 00:18:48,863
which is total BS,
353
00:18:49,820 --> 00:18:52,170
but it is lie with statistics.
354
00:18:52,170 --> 00:18:54,310
All you have to do is quote the ones
355
00:18:54,310 --> 00:18:56,930
that are totally irrelevant
to the problem at hand.
356
00:18:56,930 --> 00:18:58,730
- [Narrator] The
statistic of three percent
357
00:18:58,730 --> 00:19:01,030
of annual flow is misleading.
358
00:19:01,030 --> 00:19:04,780
The critical month is January
when the river is under ice,
359
00:19:04,780 --> 00:19:07,610
this is the eye of the needle
through which fish populations
360
00:19:07,610 --> 00:19:10,260
have to pass in order to survive.
361
00:19:10,260 --> 00:19:13,080
In winter months, industry proposes taking
362
00:19:13,080 --> 00:19:16,190
as much as 30 percent of the river's flow.
363
00:19:16,190 --> 00:19:18,423
- We see that no matter
how low the flow is getting
364
00:19:18,423 --> 00:19:21,440
the Athabasca River,
industry is still allowed
365
00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:22,560
to take water out.
366
00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:24,720
So even if you reach that threshold
367
00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,270
where if the water levels drop below that,
368
00:19:27,270 --> 00:19:29,220
you risk collapsing the fishery,
369
00:19:29,220 --> 00:19:31,600
industry still allowed to take water.
370
00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,760
- Dr. David Schindler, a
world renowned water ecologist
371
00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,010
working at the University
of Alberta told me
372
00:19:37,010 --> 00:19:38,760
about the biggest challenge of all
373
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:41,003
to the world's thirstiest oil industry.
374
00:19:42,055 --> 00:19:46,530
- I see a number of things
that are going to give us
375
00:19:46,530 --> 00:19:50,260
what you might consider to be
the perfect storm of water.
376
00:19:50,260 --> 00:19:52,830
As we've been talking, the
glaciers are dwindling.
377
00:19:52,830 --> 00:19:56,190
The snow pack's had been
dwindling even more rapidly
378
00:19:56,190 --> 00:19:57,470
with climate warming.
379
00:19:57,470 --> 00:19:59,370
The temperatures been climbing.
380
00:19:59,370 --> 00:20:01,210
That's the only one factor though.
381
00:20:01,210 --> 00:20:05,020
On top of that, we have this
huge industrial development
382
00:20:05,020 --> 00:20:10,010
and huge population increase
and then the third factor
383
00:20:10,010 --> 00:20:12,650
is that until the 20th century,
384
00:20:12,650 --> 00:20:16,010
we had droughts almost
every century that went on
385
00:20:16,010 --> 00:20:19,790
for a decade and in some
cases three or four decades.
386
00:20:19,790 --> 00:20:22,350
When we reached the point
387
00:20:22,350 --> 00:20:25,790
where we have a climate warming
388
00:20:25,790 --> 00:20:27,050
at a certain point,
389
00:20:27,050 --> 00:20:30,370
population and industry at
another point and then we get one
390
00:20:30,370 --> 00:20:32,250
of those historic droughts.
391
00:20:32,250 --> 00:20:35,390
We're going to know what
water scarcity is all about.
392
00:20:35,390 --> 00:20:36,900
- [Narrator] Schindler published a report
393
00:20:36,900 --> 00:20:39,090
in the National Academy
of Sciences Journal
394
00:20:39,090 --> 00:20:40,320
that found that all rivers
395
00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:42,870
in Canada's western
prairie provinces had lost
396
00:20:42,870 --> 00:20:46,230
between 20 and 84 percent
of their summer flow
397
00:20:46,230 --> 00:20:47,903
since the early 20th century.
398
00:20:49,120 --> 00:20:52,220
- We could actually see
a severe water shortages
399
00:20:52,220 --> 00:20:54,340
for some of the mining
firms within the next five
400
00:20:54,340 --> 00:20:55,333
to 10 years.
401
00:20:55,333 --> 00:20:58,083
(dramatic music)
402
00:21:00,120 --> 00:21:02,220
- [Narrator] The biggest
energy project in the world
403
00:21:02,220 --> 00:21:04,920
with an Achilles heel, water.
404
00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,620
I wonder how we'll fill up
our gas tanks in the middle
405
00:21:07,620 --> 00:21:09,233
of a perfect water storm.
406
00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:15,700
- So it seems like the tar
sands need an enormous amount
407
00:21:15,700 --> 00:21:19,270
of water to function, but
I look around at this waste
408
00:21:19,270 --> 00:21:22,860
and I realized that my drop of
water's journey is not over.
409
00:21:22,860 --> 00:21:25,320
I need to follow it to the next step.
410
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:27,270
After water gets drained out of the river
411
00:21:27,270 --> 00:21:30,410
and used in the process of
separating sand from oil,
412
00:21:30,410 --> 00:21:33,110
it ends up in toxic tailings ponds.
413
00:21:33,110 --> 00:21:36,010
- When they separate the
bitumen from the oil sands,
414
00:21:36,010 --> 00:21:39,840
they ended up with a slurry
of water, sand and clay,
415
00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:42,810
still has some residual
hydrocarbons and some other toxins
416
00:21:42,810 --> 00:21:44,130
and they've gotta do something with it.
417
00:21:44,130 --> 00:21:45,990
In the long term, they're not
sure what they're gonna do.
418
00:21:45,990 --> 00:21:49,270
So in the meantime, they
store it in tailings ponds.
419
00:21:49,270 --> 00:21:50,860
One of Syncrude's tailings ponds
420
00:21:50,860 --> 00:21:53,020
is actually one of the
largest dam structures
421
00:21:53,020 --> 00:21:57,110
in the world already and it's
going to continue to grow.
422
00:21:57,110 --> 00:21:59,410
It's a bit of a misnomer
to refer to them as ponds.
423
00:21:59,410 --> 00:22:00,410
Most people think of ponds,
424
00:22:00,410 --> 00:22:01,700
it's something you have in your backyard.
425
00:22:01,700 --> 00:22:03,420
Maybe you have some goldfish in it.
426
00:22:03,420 --> 00:22:06,420
We're talking about waste dumps
that you can see from space.
427
00:22:07,890 --> 00:22:10,420
- The tailings ponds contain all sorts
428
00:22:10,420 --> 00:22:13,930
of a fish killing cancer making goop.
429
00:22:13,930 --> 00:22:17,950
They've got a heavy metals,
they've got a naphthenic acids.
430
00:22:17,950 --> 00:22:19,560
They've got mercury, arsenic,
431
00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,120
and so these ponds
really are in many cases
432
00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:23,493
just kind of toxic stews.
433
00:22:24,418 --> 00:22:27,168
(dramatic music)
434
00:22:32,850 --> 00:22:35,570
- Nikiforuk stated in his
book that if Alberta drained
435
00:22:35,570 --> 00:22:38,020
it's tar sands waste into Lake Erie,
436
00:22:38,020 --> 00:22:40,320
it would fill this great
lake basin to a depth
437
00:22:40,320 --> 00:22:41,810
of eight inches.
438
00:22:41,810 --> 00:22:46,023
By 2030, this toxic soup would
be nearly seven feet deep.
439
00:22:49,310 --> 00:22:50,790
- Most of the ponds are leaking
440
00:22:50,790 --> 00:22:53,980
because they are only earthen structures.
441
00:22:53,980 --> 00:22:57,720
There's been two cases of
ponds leaking into ground water
442
00:22:57,720 --> 00:22:59,400
and we know that one of the early ponds,
443
00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:01,880
the Tar Island dyke built by Suncor
444
00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,060
has basically been leaking
into the Athabasca River
445
00:23:04,060 --> 00:23:05,510
for 30 years.
446
00:23:05,510 --> 00:23:08,000
- [Narrator] But this slow
motion spill Nikiforuk
447
00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,660
is describing isn't the
only danger in the area.
448
00:23:11,660 --> 00:23:15,430
Accidental breaches while
rare are a huge risk.
449
00:23:15,430 --> 00:23:16,900
- We have three known incidents
450
00:23:16,900 --> 00:23:19,040
in the oil sands themselves,
relatively minor,
451
00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,600
but throughout the mining
industry worldwide.
452
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:26,600
There are numerous examples
of tailings dams breaching
453
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:30,440
over time either because of
poor design, poor maintenance,
454
00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,760
or just sometimes it's
a case of accidents.
455
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,710
- Our Group, Dam Safety in
conjunction with the industries
456
00:23:35,710 --> 00:23:39,200
has been very proactive in terms
of monitoring the stability
457
00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:41,860
of these structures because
of course the safety
458
00:23:41,860 --> 00:23:45,980
of these dams is a major
priority for Albert Environments,
459
00:23:45,980 --> 00:23:50,730
an issue that we feel that of
course very important to us.
460
00:23:50,730 --> 00:23:54,390
- If there was a breach of
an oil sands tailing dam
461
00:23:54,390 --> 00:23:56,460
just north of Fort McMurray,
462
00:23:56,460 --> 00:23:58,870
the contaminants would flow north
463
00:23:58,870 --> 00:24:02,180
through the piece Athabascan
Delta into Lake Athabasca
464
00:24:02,180 --> 00:24:05,310
into the Slave River and
into the great Slave Lake,
465
00:24:05,310 --> 00:24:08,080
past Yellowknife into the MaKenzie River
466
00:24:08,918 --> 00:24:12,690
on and on all the way North
into the Mackenzie Delta
467
00:24:12,690 --> 00:24:14,063
and into the Beaufort sea.
468
00:24:17,380 --> 00:24:18,950
- The Mackenzie River basin
469
00:24:18,950 --> 00:24:20,470
is the world's third largest watershed.
470
00:24:20,470 --> 00:24:22,400
You know, you've got the
Mississippi and you've got Amazon,
471
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:23,540
and then you've got the McKenzie.
472
00:24:23,540 --> 00:24:26,110
- If All the tailings were to be released
473
00:24:26,110 --> 00:24:28,810
in one cataclysmic event due to say
474
00:24:28,810 --> 00:24:30,630
an earthquake or something.
475
00:24:30,630 --> 00:24:33,700
I think it would effectively sterilize
476
00:24:33,700 --> 00:24:36,010
the Athabasca River system.
477
00:24:36,010 --> 00:24:40,210
The amount of toxins
contained in all the tailings
478
00:24:40,210 --> 00:24:43,670
is a spectacular amount,
479
00:24:43,670 --> 00:24:48,420
and once you can find that
into a single river system,
480
00:24:48,420 --> 00:24:51,730
it would effectively kill
everything in its path.
481
00:24:51,730 --> 00:24:54,823
It would affect the system for centuries.
482
00:25:01,290 --> 00:25:03,790
- I continue my journey
down the Athabasca River
483
00:25:03,790 --> 00:25:05,950
to the First Nations
community of Fort Chipewyan,
484
00:25:05,950 --> 00:25:09,383
200 kilometers downstream
of the tar sands.
485
00:25:11,982 --> 00:25:13,892
(water trickles)
486
00:25:13,892 --> 00:25:18,892
(melancholic music)
487
00:25:32,884 --> 00:25:35,384
(boat clicks)
488
00:25:36,540 --> 00:25:37,389
(fish thuds)
489
00:25:37,389 --> 00:25:38,829
- Look at that, look
at that pickerel guys?
490
00:25:38,829 --> 00:25:40,008
- [Woman] It's awkward
491
00:25:40,008 --> 00:25:41,630
- Look at this pickerel.
492
00:25:41,630 --> 00:25:42,810
- Yeah, are they tasty?
493
00:25:42,810 --> 00:25:46,037
- Yeah, we've framed primer, you know it.
494
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:49,363
- Yeah, how big do you
think that pickerel is?
495
00:25:49,363 --> 00:25:50,803
- Maybe it's worth,
496
00:25:53,695 --> 00:25:55,111
eight, seven, eight pound.
497
00:25:55,111 --> 00:25:55,944
- [Woman] That's what I would say.
498
00:25:55,944 --> 00:25:58,790
- Seven pound, perfect, ten pound
499
00:25:58,790 --> 00:25:59,860
- And the pike?
500
00:25:59,860 --> 00:26:02,229
- That was probably 18 or so.
501
00:26:02,229 --> 00:26:04,190
- They look like a
fighter, that's for sure.
502
00:26:04,190 --> 00:26:06,103
Yeah, big teeth.
503
00:26:08,894 --> 00:26:10,413
(soft music)
504
00:26:10,413 --> 00:26:13,163
(water splashes)
505
00:26:14,354 --> 00:26:16,771
(soft music)
506
00:26:18,369 --> 00:26:21,340
(fire crackles)
507
00:26:21,340 --> 00:26:23,550
- I see they're catching fish quite okay.
508
00:26:23,550 --> 00:26:25,632
I'm always worried, are they good to eat?
509
00:26:25,632 --> 00:26:26,715
Are you okay?
510
00:26:28,510 --> 00:26:30,810
I know I would like to
really get it tested
511
00:26:30,810 --> 00:26:32,630
because everybody's
worried, especially up north
512
00:26:32,630 --> 00:26:36,820
in the basin of the of the
Delta and I've spoken to elders.
513
00:26:36,820 --> 00:26:38,410
They've seen so many diseases now
514
00:26:38,410 --> 00:26:41,110
that they have never have seen before.
515
00:26:41,110 --> 00:26:42,850
- Wow, look at that.
516
00:26:42,850 --> 00:26:46,240
- There are restrictions
on the consumption of fish
517
00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:49,560
in this area due to natural
concentrations of mercury,
518
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:52,860
not to concentrations
related to contaminants
519
00:26:52,860 --> 00:26:54,111
from the oil sands.
520
00:26:54,111 --> 00:26:56,778
(water ripples)
521
00:27:13,690 --> 00:27:15,630
- Fort Chipewyan is at the very end
522
00:27:15,630 --> 00:27:17,350
of the Athabasca River.
523
00:27:17,350 --> 00:27:20,680
Any dangerous chemicals in
the river would end up here.
524
00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:22,683
I wonder if the water's safe to drink.
525
00:27:24,218 --> 00:27:27,051
(machine rattles)
526
00:27:27,900 --> 00:27:29,440
- The water treatment water like once
527
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:30,900
it's in our distribution system,
528
00:27:30,900 --> 00:27:33,770
it's perfectly good
water but out in the lake
529
00:27:33,770 --> 00:27:36,330
and we kind of just deeper
like you used to in the past,
530
00:27:36,330 --> 00:27:38,830
like even when I was growing
up and I was a youngster
531
00:27:38,830 --> 00:27:41,170
like we used to have our water hole
532
00:27:41,170 --> 00:27:43,620
was in the Athabasca River.
533
00:27:43,620 --> 00:27:46,170
So, I do have concerns for my
children because I want them
534
00:27:46,170 --> 00:27:49,030
to grow up, you know, having
the same opportunities
535
00:27:49,030 --> 00:27:51,490
I had like to go in the
land and fish, you know,
536
00:27:51,490 --> 00:27:56,300
it'd be nice to know if
there is something wrong
537
00:27:56,300 --> 00:27:57,450
with the water.
538
00:27:57,450 --> 00:27:58,530
I used to work at Syncrude
539
00:27:58,530 --> 00:28:03,530
and I one of my buddies we
upset of both in the pond
540
00:28:04,144 --> 00:28:04,977
- In the tailings pond?
541
00:28:04,977 --> 00:28:06,000
- Right in the tailings pond
542
00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:09,160
and it was near not the discharge.
543
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:10,560
I went under a couple of times.
544
00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:14,180
I'm like, gulp down a
maybe two or three gulps
545
00:28:14,180 --> 00:28:16,430
of whatever was in the pond
546
00:28:16,430 --> 00:28:18,283
because I didn't feel good after that.
547
00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:22,300
So they fired us off to
the regional health center
548
00:28:22,300 --> 00:28:24,360
in Fort Macmurray and the doctors,
549
00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:26,900
they required a list of what was it,
550
00:28:26,900 --> 00:28:28,120
what I swallowed, right.
551
00:28:28,120 --> 00:28:29,410
So they're quite a list.
552
00:28:29,410 --> 00:28:32,880
There must have been 27
different types of chemicals.
553
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:34,930
- Personally, I've had
four family members die
554
00:28:34,930 --> 00:28:38,280
from cancer all within about
a five, six year period
555
00:28:38,280 --> 00:28:40,320
and I think just about
anybody else you talk to
556
00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:43,410
will have had a family member
that's died from cancer
557
00:28:44,500 --> 00:28:47,520
and nobody was really listening to us.
558
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:49,300
- [Narrator] Neither
government nor industry
559
00:28:49,300 --> 00:28:50,760
was prepared to conduct
560
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:53,873
a serious study of the
contaminants in Fort Chipewyan.
561
00:28:54,740 --> 00:28:58,320
So the Nunee Health Board had
to undertake one themselves
562
00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:00,763
and hired Dr Kevin Timoney,
563
00:29:02,500 --> 00:29:04,150
I'm happy you're here and I'd like
564
00:29:04,150 --> 00:29:05,860
to introduce Dr Kevin Timoney to you
565
00:29:05,860 --> 00:29:09,304
and he will take the floor, thank you.
566
00:29:09,304 --> 00:29:12,054
(audience claps)
567
00:29:13,710 --> 00:29:16,910
- Donna told you it's,
there's been some concern
568
00:29:16,910 --> 00:29:19,900
in the community about
the quality of the water
569
00:29:19,900 --> 00:29:22,490
in the sediments and
contaminants in the wildlife
570
00:29:22,490 --> 00:29:25,420
and how that might be related to diseases
571
00:29:25,420 --> 00:29:26,600
in the community.
572
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:31,070
For people who eat locally
caught fish, the health risk
573
00:29:31,070 --> 00:29:34,670
to you is greater than
the Alberta government
574
00:29:34,670 --> 00:29:36,870
has told you.
575
00:29:36,870 --> 00:29:41,040
The three contaminants of
most concern are arsenic,
576
00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,870
PAHs is and mercury.
577
00:29:43,870 --> 00:29:48,160
All the Walleye, all the female
white fish and 90 percent
578
00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,300
of the male white fish exceed
579
00:29:50,300 --> 00:29:52,620
the mercury consumption guidelines.
580
00:29:52,620 --> 00:29:55,770
These are a cause for
some serious concern.
581
00:29:55,770 --> 00:29:56,670
- the normal fish?
582
00:29:57,910 --> 00:30:00,420
Fish are an important part in your diet.
583
00:30:00,420 --> 00:30:02,150
They're an important part of your culture,
584
00:30:02,150 --> 00:30:07,150
your community and so it
is difficult to recommend
585
00:30:07,450 --> 00:30:09,350
not to eat the fish.
586
00:30:09,350 --> 00:30:13,710
If you eat the moose and
the fish and the berries
587
00:30:13,710 --> 00:30:17,620
from the area, there will be about 312
588
00:30:17,620 --> 00:30:22,160
to 453 additional cases of cancer
589
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,410
per 100,000 people in the population.
590
00:30:25,410 --> 00:30:28,190
The concern is that the
chief agency responsible
591
00:30:28,190 --> 00:30:30,120
for protecting your health,
592
00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:33,380
the Alberta government
also has a vested interest
593
00:30:33,380 --> 00:30:35,150
in oil sands developments.
594
00:30:35,150 --> 00:30:38,610
- We've been battling
these issues for years
595
00:30:38,610 --> 00:30:39,940
and nothing has been done.
596
00:30:39,940 --> 00:30:43,030
Why, because people downs
town where decision makers
597
00:30:43,030 --> 00:30:46,610
are not up here facing,
but we as community leaders
598
00:30:46,610 --> 00:30:47,850
have to put up with.
599
00:30:47,850 --> 00:30:51,010
We see our youth that are
starting to get cancer rates.
600
00:30:51,010 --> 00:30:53,530
This was never like that before.
601
00:30:53,530 --> 00:30:55,760
Now there's new plants that are coming up.
602
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,810
You mentioned just that one
plant that has a discharge back
603
00:30:58,810 --> 00:30:59,700
into the river.
604
00:30:59,700 --> 00:31:01,700
How would the Suncors, IBM and Stans,
605
00:31:01,700 --> 00:31:04,760
General, petro-Canada, the Kerr Creek,
606
00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:06,950
they all have impacted to that passed it
607
00:31:06,950 --> 00:31:08,950
to where they don't care
because they're down south.
608
00:31:08,950 --> 00:31:10,080
It doesn't affect them.
609
00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:12,630
We're the ones that are
getting all this shit up here.
610
00:31:12,630 --> 00:31:15,190
- [Narrator] Few outsiders
knew the issues the community
611
00:31:15,190 --> 00:31:18,733
was facing but then something happened.
612
00:31:19,663 --> 00:31:23,460
1,600 ducks on their
annual migration mistook
613
00:31:23,460 --> 00:31:26,181
a tailings pond for a lake and landed.
614
00:31:26,181 --> 00:31:27,014
(duck quacks)
615
00:31:27,014 --> 00:31:31,723
None flew away, it was the
duck heard round the world.
616
00:31:33,877 --> 00:31:35,110
(duck quacks)
617
00:31:35,110 --> 00:31:38,380
- They're all coming from
the Fort McMurray area.
618
00:31:38,380 --> 00:31:41,370
We working directly
with Fish and Wildlife,
619
00:31:41,370 --> 00:31:42,970
they give us a call and let us know
620
00:31:42,970 --> 00:31:45,340
when there's animals
impacted and what plan
621
00:31:45,340 --> 00:31:46,800
they're being put on.
622
00:31:46,800 --> 00:31:49,370
They are sent to one of the
airports here in Edmonton
623
00:31:49,370 --> 00:31:50,500
and we pick them up
624
00:31:50,500 --> 00:31:55,500
- Wrap it up.
(duck whistles)
625
00:31:56,510 --> 00:31:57,660
- [Narrator] Pressured by the public,
626
00:31:57,660 --> 00:32:00,370
the federal and provincial
governments initiated
627
00:32:00,370 --> 00:32:02,920
legal action against Syncrude.
628
00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:05,040
This trial came to an end two years later
629
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:09,941
with Syncrude being fined $3.3,000,000.
630
00:32:09,941 --> 00:32:12,691
(dramatic music)
631
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:17,860
- [Woman] Technically--
- Fact is, is that birds die
632
00:32:17,860 --> 00:32:18,960
in these tailing lakes,
633
00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,200
large animals dying in these tailing lakes
634
00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:23,230
because they are inherently dangerous.
635
00:32:23,230 --> 00:32:25,420
The only solution really is to eliminate
636
00:32:25,420 --> 00:32:27,720
these tailing lakes
all together and again,
637
00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,153
that's another place that the federal
638
00:32:30,153 --> 00:32:30,986
and provincial government are
failing their responsibility.
639
00:32:30,986 --> 00:32:33,311
- Yeah, exactly don't go south or there.
640
00:32:33,311 --> 00:32:34,144
- This is exciting
641
00:32:34,144 --> 00:32:35,702
- Don't go North.
- Don't go North.
642
00:32:35,702 --> 00:32:37,170
(all laughs)
643
00:32:37,170 --> 00:32:38,250
- [Narrator] Three days after
644
00:32:38,250 --> 00:32:40,680
a three point $3.3,000,000 fine,
645
00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:45,680
roughly 300 ducks landed on
another Syncrude tailings pond
646
00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:47,702
and none flew away.
647
00:32:47,702 --> 00:32:50,702
(melancholic music)
648
00:32:55,430 --> 00:32:58,070
- I went back to take a look
at some of those tailings ponds
649
00:32:58,070 --> 00:32:59,320
where the ducks had died.
650
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:01,153
This is interesting.
651
00:33:01,153 --> 00:33:03,590
We were here about eight months ago
652
00:33:03,590 --> 00:33:06,290
and there was a big sign here.
653
00:33:06,290 --> 00:33:07,533
It said Syncrude and--
654
00:33:07,533 --> 00:33:08,500
- He has come back
- We move mountains here.
655
00:33:08,500 --> 00:33:09,604
- Come back by the way.
656
00:33:09,604 --> 00:33:11,556
- That's it.
- Yeah
657
00:33:11,556 --> 00:33:14,130
- And there comes the...
658
00:33:14,130 --> 00:33:15,389
- Hi there?
- We are going.
659
00:33:15,389 --> 00:33:17,620
- Good yeah but we're have to get you guys
660
00:33:17,620 --> 00:33:18,973
to leave right now.
661
00:33:18,973 --> 00:33:20,630
- Okay
- Because--
662
00:33:20,630 --> 00:33:22,110
- Because why?
663
00:33:22,110 --> 00:33:24,390
- Why, because you can't film here.
664
00:33:24,390 --> 00:33:26,350
I can't help it but you
guys will have to go.
665
00:33:26,350 --> 00:33:28,380
- All right, well, why?
666
00:33:28,380 --> 00:33:29,910
- I'm just a Messenger.
667
00:33:29,910 --> 00:33:30,840
- Who's telling you we're out there?
668
00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:32,220
- Come from higher up.
669
00:33:32,220 --> 00:33:33,688
- From higher up?
670
00:33:33,688 --> 00:33:34,521
- From corporate.
671
00:33:34,521 --> 00:33:35,580
- How high up?
(laughs)
672
00:33:35,580 --> 00:33:36,900
- Corporate.
673
00:33:36,900 --> 00:33:40,172
- Corporate, so corporate
cares about what we're doing?
674
00:33:40,172 --> 00:33:42,200
- Yeah, you are trespassing.
675
00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:44,260
So we can't allow that, you can't film.
676
00:33:44,260 --> 00:33:46,520
It's on the regulations, you can't film.
677
00:33:46,520 --> 00:33:48,765
- Okay, all right, we
already respect that.
678
00:33:48,765 --> 00:33:49,948
- Okay.
- Okay.
679
00:33:49,948 --> 00:33:50,865
- Thank you
680
00:33:52,075 --> 00:33:54,040
- I don't know, it just
seems like the messaging here
681
00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:56,200
is just getting so tight ever since
682
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,150
a duck incident everything's changing.
683
00:33:58,150 --> 00:34:01,117
Out there before used
to be a sign that said,
684
00:34:01,117 --> 00:34:02,607
"we move mountains here,"
685
00:34:03,590 --> 00:34:05,990
it's a biggest earth moving
projects since the pyramids
686
00:34:05,990 --> 00:34:07,230
and now they removed the sign.
687
00:34:07,230 --> 00:34:08,790
I guess it's not per se anymore
688
00:34:08,790 --> 00:34:11,030
to have that kind of a sign.
689
00:34:11,030 --> 00:34:13,440
Especially when you've
got this duck sensitive
690
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:15,190
and all these ducks that are dying.
691
00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:20,230
Is there some kind of ironic
way that the bird situation
692
00:34:20,230 --> 00:34:23,600
has helped raise awareness?
693
00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:24,699
- There's more than now water following.
694
00:34:24,699 --> 00:34:27,449
There's actually human
beings that are involved
695
00:34:27,449 --> 00:34:30,159
and being affected in this
and that's what the Canada
696
00:34:30,159 --> 00:34:32,670
and the rest of North America
has to see and the rest
697
00:34:32,670 --> 00:34:34,076
of the world that you know,
698
00:34:34,076 --> 00:34:36,889
there is actually communities downstream
699
00:34:36,889 --> 00:34:38,590
from this center getting affected.
700
00:34:39,489 --> 00:34:42,840
Understand these ducks come
here on an annual basis.
701
00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,100
We are here year round.
702
00:34:45,100 --> 00:34:46,090
What do we have to do?
703
00:34:46,090 --> 00:34:48,650
Do I have to line up 500 of my people,
704
00:34:48,650 --> 00:34:52,100
log into tailings pond,
get that same response.
705
00:34:52,100 --> 00:34:55,840
- Before I start, I would
like to apologize for the fact
706
00:34:55,840 --> 00:35:00,360
that some of you were probably
sitting in this gym waiting
707
00:35:00,360 --> 00:35:03,820
for us on April 17th when
we were supposed to come
708
00:35:03,820 --> 00:35:05,590
into this the last time.
709
00:35:05,590 --> 00:35:09,330
We were very disappointed
that we couldn't come
710
00:35:09,330 --> 00:35:11,020
and see you that evening.
711
00:35:11,020 --> 00:35:13,850
The good news is on April 17th,
712
00:35:13,850 --> 00:35:17,990
we only had muffins and this
time when we bought KFC.
713
00:35:17,990 --> 00:35:21,080
So I think you came out a
little bit better in the end.
714
00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:22,630
I hope you enjoyed your dinner.
715
00:35:24,410 --> 00:35:26,363
So Kevin, I'll let you get started.
716
00:35:29,740 --> 00:35:31,690
- Thanks Brenda and
thanks to the community
717
00:35:31,690 --> 00:35:32,740
and the chiefs here.
718
00:35:32,740 --> 00:35:35,350
I really appreciate the
opportunity to be here tonight.
719
00:35:35,350 --> 00:35:39,470
So these are our approval
actually for our water discharge
720
00:35:39,470 --> 00:35:44,200
from our process recycled
water system on site.
721
00:35:44,200 --> 00:35:46,170
- [Man] Would you
suggest that some of them
722
00:35:46,170 --> 00:35:47,810
are cancer causing,
723
00:35:47,810 --> 00:35:50,193
Have cancer causing contaminants in them?
724
00:35:52,741 --> 00:35:54,583
Carcinogenic PAHS?
725
00:35:56,140 --> 00:35:59,283
- Well, it's all a function of dosage
726
00:35:59,283 --> 00:36:01,290
and exposure over time.
727
00:36:01,290 --> 00:36:05,070
So, it's an individual basis
728
00:36:05,070 --> 00:36:08,480
to different humans are more susceptible
729
00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:09,910
to cancers than others.
730
00:36:09,910 --> 00:36:11,357
- So, yes, yes?
731
00:36:12,340 --> 00:36:13,620
They could contribute
732
00:36:13,620 --> 00:36:17,540
but I can't conclusively say
733
00:36:17,540 --> 00:36:18,373
that they do.
734
00:36:18,373 --> 00:36:20,869
It's an due to a number of factors.
735
00:36:20,869 --> 00:36:24,286
- [Man] So then why do you keep doing it?
736
00:36:25,810 --> 00:36:28,370
- So again, these are licensed limits
737
00:36:28,370 --> 00:36:30,490
and we do a lot of work
738
00:36:30,490 --> 00:36:32,820
on the river out these
limits to understand
739
00:36:32,820 --> 00:36:34,233
the impact on the river.
740
00:36:35,140 --> 00:36:37,060
- There was a spill that
happened about a year ago
741
00:36:37,060 --> 00:36:40,400
that basically we're
just being informed about
742
00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:43,403
which was about a million
liters of tailings.
743
00:36:44,920 --> 00:36:46,343
So July seven,
744
00:36:46,343 --> 00:36:49,300
- O seven.
- O seven.
745
00:36:49,300 --> 00:36:53,600
How can we prepare our people
when a quantity of that size
746
00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:55,600
is going into our river system?
747
00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:58,010
We weren't told of anything.
748
00:36:58,010 --> 00:37:01,660
How can I prepare my people
to tell them basically
749
00:37:01,660 --> 00:37:04,090
you cannot drink water because of this.
750
00:37:04,090 --> 00:37:08,790
- We really need to discuss
this July incident because we,
751
00:37:08,790 --> 00:37:10,645
I have no knowledge of such an incident.
752
00:37:10,645 --> 00:37:14,052
- [Man] You are saying
there's no July 2007 incident
753
00:37:14,052 --> 00:37:18,465
of 1,000,000 liters of toxic
tailings into Athabasca?
754
00:37:18,465 --> 00:37:20,002
I'm not aware of that incident.
755
00:37:20,002 --> 00:37:22,250
- And you know how
important water is to us,
756
00:37:22,250 --> 00:37:23,680
you've heard us all evening.
757
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:25,403
All these people are afraid.
758
00:37:26,460 --> 00:37:28,580
We've lost a lot of people here.
759
00:37:28,580 --> 00:37:29,670
We've lost a lot of people.
760
00:37:29,670 --> 00:37:31,833
We bury people all the time.
761
00:37:35,910 --> 00:37:38,410
And the government still
gives out their licenses.
762
00:37:40,030 --> 00:37:41,730
You should be ashamed of yourself.
763
00:37:47,260 --> 00:37:48,853
- I'm just as confused as ever.
764
00:37:48,853 --> 00:37:50,360
So when I began this trip,
765
00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:53,700
I had this naive idea that I
was going to find out the truth
766
00:37:53,700 --> 00:37:55,880
and what I've discovered is that truth
767
00:37:55,880 --> 00:37:58,700
like the water in the
Athabaska river is liquid.
768
00:37:58,700 --> 00:38:01,290
The arguments put forth
by government and industry
769
00:38:01,290 --> 00:38:03,190
are that there is no cause for concern
770
00:38:03,190 --> 00:38:05,070
for people living downstream,
771
00:38:05,070 --> 00:38:07,250
but I've seen firsthand the obvious impact
772
00:38:07,250 --> 00:38:08,630
on this community.
773
00:38:08,630 --> 00:38:10,880
I'm realizing that how
information is presented
774
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:14,100
is critical, only independent
science can give me
775
00:38:14,100 --> 00:38:15,480
a holistic picture.
776
00:38:15,480 --> 00:38:17,520
So I go to Edmonton where Dr. Schindler
777
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:19,790
is working on a study of
the contaminant loading
778
00:38:19,790 --> 00:38:20,623
in the river.
779
00:38:21,918 --> 00:38:24,580
- So there's two questions
we want to answer.
780
00:38:24,580 --> 00:38:28,840
Number one is how much is
the mining contributing
781
00:38:28,840 --> 00:38:32,780
to the toxicity of the Athabasca River?
782
00:38:32,780 --> 00:38:37,780
How much will those streams
if they are toxic, be diluted
783
00:38:38,220 --> 00:38:42,180
by the time that river
reaches the Fort Chipewyan
784
00:38:42,180 --> 00:38:45,240
an area whose look like
some pretty high values.
785
00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:46,853
Those tubes down there.
786
00:38:48,210 --> 00:38:49,680
- I read Schindler Study
787
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:51,590
which sample contaminants that came out
788
00:38:51,590 --> 00:38:53,430
of smokestacks in the area.
789
00:38:53,430 --> 00:38:56,290
He found that in a 50
square kilometer radius,
790
00:38:56,290 --> 00:39:00,380
11,000 metric tons of particulate
got deposited in the snow
791
00:39:00,380 --> 00:39:01,840
in the winter months.
792
00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:04,130
When the snow melted this particulate
793
00:39:04,130 --> 00:39:05,960
got into creeks and streams leading
794
00:39:05,960 --> 00:39:07,710
into the Athabasca River.
795
00:39:07,710 --> 00:39:10,750
This was the equivalent
of a major oil spill.
796
00:39:10,750 --> 00:39:13,800
Water and air are totally interconnected.
797
00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:16,753
You can't look at one without
considering the other.
798
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:22,200
Dr. Schindler's findings prompted him
799
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:23,770
to collaborate with Dr. Timoney
800
00:39:23,770 --> 00:39:25,710
and the people of Fort Chipewyan,
801
00:39:25,710 --> 00:39:26,820
to display for the press
802
00:39:26,820 --> 00:39:29,440
and Edmonton contaminated
fish caught downstream
803
00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:30,433
of the tar sands.
804
00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:35,450
- [Narrator] Schindler's research focused
805
00:39:35,450 --> 00:39:39,340
on the Athabasca River
and impacts from mining,
806
00:39:39,340 --> 00:39:41,120
but mining is only the first step
807
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:42,730
of the process.
808
00:39:42,730 --> 00:39:45,993
The second step is piping
it to the upgraders.
809
00:39:47,110 --> 00:39:51,000
Now, David will follow an
imaginary drop of water eastward
810
00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:52,713
on the Saskatchewan River.
811
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:59,570
Bill Donahue, a colleague
of Dr. Schindler's takes me
812
00:39:59,570 --> 00:40:02,700
on a visit to upgrader alley
where the mines are sending
813
00:40:02,700 --> 00:40:03,653
the heavy oil.
814
00:40:05,370 --> 00:40:07,120
- For an impact, do
you think the upgraders
815
00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:08,900
will have on the river?
816
00:40:08,900 --> 00:40:10,830
- Well, I mean they'll
certainly reduced the amount
817
00:40:10,830 --> 00:40:13,670
of flow downstream of
Edmonton and down stream
818
00:40:13,670 --> 00:40:16,120
of the refineries and then potentially
819
00:40:16,120 --> 00:40:20,400
also there's the likelihood of
increased contaminant loading
820
00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:21,750
in the river.
821
00:40:21,750 --> 00:40:25,280
- A few years ago I had the
opportunity to visit the source
822
00:40:25,280 --> 00:40:27,720
of where these upgraders
get their water from,
823
00:40:27,720 --> 00:40:29,370
the Saskatchewan glacier.
824
00:40:29,370 --> 00:40:32,730
So this map was made
in 1996 and it tells us
825
00:40:32,730 --> 00:40:35,770
that where we're standing
there should be ice.
826
00:40:35,770 --> 00:40:40,770
If you take a look, that's
where the ice actually is.
827
00:40:40,980 --> 00:40:42,870
- [Narrator] This glacier
is the source of water
828
00:40:42,870 --> 00:40:46,110
for Edmonton, a city of a million people.
829
00:40:46,110 --> 00:40:49,180
A report by the Pembina
Institute concluded
830
00:40:49,180 --> 00:40:52,270
that each upgrading
plant, we'll use a minimum
831
00:40:52,270 --> 00:40:56,630
of 5 billion liters of water
annually and only a quarter
832
00:40:56,630 --> 00:40:59,410
of this will be returned to the river.
833
00:40:59,410 --> 00:41:02,270
This could create the
conditions for major conflicts
834
00:41:02,270 --> 00:41:05,593
with Saskatchewan and Manitoba over water.
835
00:41:06,630 --> 00:41:09,600
- So what we do here in
Edmonton Effects Manitoba.
836
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:11,416
- Yeah, and I've been in meetings,
837
00:41:11,416 --> 00:41:13,180
interprovincial meetings where people
838
00:41:13,180 --> 00:41:14,480
from Manitoba and Saskatchewan
839
00:41:14,480 --> 00:41:17,120
have got up and expressed real alarm
840
00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:18,920
at what they see coming.
841
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:21,540
- I wonder what alarm bells
are going off downstream
842
00:41:21,540 --> 00:41:23,520
on the North Saskatchewan River.
843
00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:25,560
David Sauchyn is a scientist working out
844
00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:27,130
of the University of Regina
845
00:41:27,130 --> 00:41:29,600
who has compiled an
impressive array of data
846
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:31,820
on the rivers flow over time.
847
00:41:31,820 --> 00:41:34,010
- We've been studying
the Saskatchewan River
848
00:41:34,010 --> 00:41:37,500
for the past several years
and in particular the record
849
00:41:37,500 --> 00:41:40,260
of stream flow for the last millennium.
850
00:41:40,260 --> 00:41:41,620
And the reason we collect wood
851
00:41:41,620 --> 00:41:45,380
is because the tree
rings record the weather
852
00:41:45,380 --> 00:41:47,570
and on the prairies they
record how much water
853
00:41:47,570 --> 00:41:48,930
was available every year.
854
00:41:48,930 --> 00:41:51,840
Trees are excellent but we want validation
855
00:41:51,840 --> 00:41:53,760
of what we see in the trees.
856
00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:56,420
So few years ago I sent a
student to the Hudson Bay
857
00:41:56,420 --> 00:41:58,420
or curves in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
858
00:41:58,420 --> 00:42:03,420
He found this gem from
1796 from Fort Edmonton
859
00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:05,200
on the North Saskatchewan River.
860
00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:07,770
And I quote the fur traders as saying
861
00:42:07,770 --> 00:42:11,010
that the first could not be
moved there being no water
862
00:42:11,010 --> 00:42:11,930
in the river.
863
00:42:11,930 --> 00:42:14,970
So that spring, the
North Saskatchewan River
864
00:42:14,970 --> 00:42:16,750
could not support a canoe.
865
00:42:16,750 --> 00:42:20,380
And we've seen nothing like it since then.
866
00:42:20,380 --> 00:42:23,380
Nothing that would cause the
entire north Saskatchewan River
867
00:42:23,380 --> 00:42:26,140
to virtually dry up but
it's entirely possible.
868
00:42:26,140 --> 00:42:27,940
It can happen in the near future.
869
00:42:27,940 --> 00:42:32,690
This river after all is
about 12 to 14,000 years old
870
00:42:32,690 --> 00:42:35,240
and we're talking about a
severe drought that happened
871
00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:36,840
just 200 years ago.
872
00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:40,860
If all of those upgrades or
something like nine get built,
873
00:42:40,860 --> 00:42:42,410
the amount of water that's required,
874
00:42:42,410 --> 00:42:46,160
it will be like 10 times the
current allocation for the city
875
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:49,710
of Edmonton and I've seen
quotes of from the proponents
876
00:42:49,710 --> 00:42:51,240
of these projects where they refer
877
00:42:51,240 --> 00:42:56,240
to the North Saskatchewan
water as a reliable
878
00:42:56,290 --> 00:42:59,430
and the river being a
viable source of water
879
00:42:59,430 --> 00:43:02,480
and I'm not sure how they've
reached this conclusion.
880
00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:04,880
- [David] But Sauchyn warned
me about a related industry
881
00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:07,750
that could put even more
pressure on the river.
882
00:43:07,750 --> 00:43:10,880
- I've read the proposal from Bruce Power
883
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:15,180
for this nuclear power facility
that would be built next
884
00:43:15,180 --> 00:43:16,650
to the North Saskatchewan River.
885
00:43:16,650 --> 00:43:21,650
Apparently, the purpose of
this nuclear power facility
886
00:43:21,670 --> 00:43:23,820
would be to supply the
people of Saskatchewan
887
00:43:23,820 --> 00:43:26,000
with an additional source of power,
888
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:28,730
but given its proximity
to the Alberta oil sands,
889
00:43:28,730 --> 00:43:29,700
it's hard to imagine
890
00:43:29,700 --> 00:43:31,770
that there wouldn't be another customer.
891
00:43:31,770 --> 00:43:34,650
- [Narrator] Currently the tar
sands power their operations
892
00:43:34,650 --> 00:43:37,400
using large amounts of natural gas.
893
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:40,090
Since Canada only has enough natural gas
894
00:43:40,090 --> 00:43:43,910
to extract 29% of the available bitumen,
895
00:43:43,910 --> 00:43:47,350
government and industry are
pushing for nuclear energy
896
00:43:47,350 --> 00:43:50,960
to fill the void once
the natural gas runs out.
897
00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:52,850
- [David] So what happens
to a nuclear power plant
898
00:43:52,850 --> 00:43:54,203
if it runs out of water?
899
00:43:57,060 --> 00:44:00,450
- I'm not sure what what
the consequences are
900
00:44:00,450 --> 00:44:02,920
if a nuclear reactor runs out of water.
901
00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:06,380
Just based on my rudimentary
understanding of nuclear power,
902
00:44:06,380 --> 00:44:09,480
it has to be cooled
using a source of water.
903
00:44:09,480 --> 00:44:12,010
And so I can only imagine
what the consequences are
904
00:44:12,010 --> 00:44:14,030
if they run out of water.
905
00:44:14,030 --> 00:44:15,630
And I'm not sure if they've
taken that into account
906
00:44:15,630 --> 00:44:19,220
because they must be fairly
confident that this river
907
00:44:19,220 --> 00:44:20,690
would never run die.
908
00:44:20,690 --> 00:44:24,230
And yet we have the quote
from the Hudson Bay Company
909
00:44:24,230 --> 00:44:26,880
indicating that they
couldn't move firs there
910
00:44:26,880 --> 00:44:28,280
being no water in the river.
911
00:44:29,310 --> 00:44:32,620
- The Institute of
Development published a report
912
00:44:32,620 --> 00:44:35,340
on our reliance of nuclear power in an era
913
00:44:35,340 --> 00:44:37,030
when the climate is changing.
914
00:44:37,030 --> 00:44:38,407
They found that
915
00:44:38,407 --> 00:44:41,957
"a lack of cooling water can
lead to serious consequences
916
00:44:41,957 --> 00:44:43,647
"in the nuclear power plant
917
00:44:43,647 --> 00:44:48,340
"and May in extreme cases
even risk a nuclear meltdown."
918
00:44:48,340 --> 00:44:50,660
- [Reporter] Older power
sources indispensable to cool
919
00:44:50,660 --> 00:44:52,180
the nuclear fuels were last.
920
00:44:52,180 --> 00:44:54,460
- [Narrator] Although this
particular incident in Japan
921
00:44:54,460 --> 00:44:56,860
was caused by a tsunami and flooding,
922
00:44:56,860 --> 00:45:00,890
the report also cites a
2006 incident in France
923
00:45:00,890 --> 00:45:03,430
when heat waves cause
drops in river levels,
924
00:45:03,430 --> 00:45:07,110
forcing 17 nuclear reactors
to either shut down
925
00:45:07,110 --> 00:45:08,470
or limit their out put.
926
00:45:08,470 --> 00:45:10,210
- [Woman] Nuclear reactors
are believed to have fallen
927
00:45:10,210 --> 00:45:13,093
into the state of melt
down, one after another.
928
00:45:14,850 --> 00:45:17,210
A large amount of radioactive substances
929
00:45:17,210 --> 00:45:18,503
have been dispersed.
930
00:45:20,020 --> 00:45:22,340
- all across Saskatchewan
people were getting together
931
00:45:22,340 --> 00:45:24,490
to speak out against the
government's position
932
00:45:24,490 --> 00:45:25,562
on nuclear power plants.
933
00:45:25,562 --> 00:45:26,830
- We wanna get educated.
934
00:45:26,830 --> 00:45:28,060
How safe is it for us?
935
00:45:28,060 --> 00:45:31,210
How safe is it for our
boys and everything else?
936
00:45:31,210 --> 00:45:33,460
I've kind of come to the
conclusion I can live
937
00:45:33,460 --> 00:45:35,950
with it myself but this
is what it's all about
938
00:45:35,950 --> 00:45:40,123
is these young fellas and
we got to look out for them.
939
00:45:41,230 --> 00:45:43,110
I guess would the health part of it,
940
00:45:43,110 --> 00:45:45,700
I think maybe the town mayor
here maybe said it best.
941
00:45:45,700 --> 00:45:47,870
We've got one group here
saying the world's gonna end
942
00:45:47,870 --> 00:45:49,850
with the health studies.
943
00:45:49,850 --> 00:45:53,690
Another side saying is
perfectly safe and it's up to us
944
00:45:53,690 --> 00:45:55,940
to find it what acceptable risk is.
945
00:45:55,940 --> 00:45:57,060
I feel with our children,
946
00:45:57,060 --> 00:45:58,703
there is no acceptable risk.
947
00:45:59,964 --> 00:46:02,714
(audience claps)
948
00:46:06,986 --> 00:46:11,100
- This tar sands which is
what the nuclear powers for,
949
00:46:11,100 --> 00:46:14,193
we have to begin to take this
whole operation into place.
950
00:46:14,193 --> 00:46:16,017
We can't just say,
951
00:46:16,017 --> 00:46:17,996
"well, let's talk about nuclear,
952
00:46:17,996 --> 00:46:21,110
"let's talk about an
upgrader, let's store one".
953
00:46:21,110 --> 00:46:24,520
We have to take this whole
thing together, all in one shot,
954
00:46:24,520 --> 00:46:28,010
not at all. And if we
don't want the whole shot,
955
00:46:28,010 --> 00:46:29,837
throw the down, works out.
956
00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,090
- [David] And here I thought
I was going on a glacier hike
957
00:46:33,090 --> 00:46:35,910
and a canoe trip to
follow a drop of water.
958
00:46:35,910 --> 00:46:38,690
But now I find myself
watching the final days
959
00:46:38,690 --> 00:46:42,440
of an energy era, the
downward spiral into chaos
960
00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:46,480
as we struggled to use any means
necessary including nuclear
961
00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:48,037
to extend the age of oil .
962
00:46:49,165 --> 00:46:53,810
Back in Alberta upgraders,
we're raising the stakes
963
00:46:53,810 --> 00:46:57,423
for another community on
the banks of the Athabasca.
964
00:46:57,423 --> 00:47:00,403
Just being trailed here by security.
965
00:47:02,970 --> 00:47:05,590
So last winter there was a huge explosion
966
00:47:05,590 --> 00:47:07,150
at an upgrading plant,
967
00:47:07,150 --> 00:47:09,960
I guess reports were saying
that the workers were running
968
00:47:09,960 --> 00:47:12,080
for their lives from
huge corrugated sheets
969
00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:15,890
of iron raining down from the
sky and one worker ended up
970
00:47:15,890 --> 00:47:17,980
with third degree burns.
971
00:47:17,980 --> 00:47:20,690
This is the same upgrading plans where one
972
00:47:20,690 --> 00:47:24,330
of the workers died when he
drowned in a tailings pond
973
00:47:24,330 --> 00:47:28,410
and I guess this incident,
this explosion really affected
974
00:47:28,410 --> 00:47:29,511
the people of Fort McMurray.
975
00:47:29,511 --> 00:47:31,250
So I'm just going up to find out.
976
00:47:31,250 --> 00:47:32,540
I've been chatting with
some folks up there,
977
00:47:32,540 --> 00:47:34,300
going up to find out more about it.
978
00:47:34,300 --> 00:47:37,467
(native's drum booms)
979
00:47:44,460 --> 00:47:45,293
(camera clicks)
980
00:47:45,293 --> 00:47:46,126
- Mom, can I see?
981
00:47:46,126 --> 00:47:48,543
(drum booms)
982
00:47:50,010 --> 00:47:52,820
- The blast was felt and heard by a number
983
00:47:52,820 --> 00:47:54,200
of community residents here.
984
00:47:54,200 --> 00:47:57,120
So at that time, I
believe the, you can see
985
00:47:57,120 --> 00:47:59,230
some of the black plumes.
986
00:47:59,230 --> 00:48:00,130
It's a good thing, yeah,
987
00:48:00,130 --> 00:48:01,510
the wind was blowing
in the right direction
988
00:48:01,510 --> 00:48:03,120
because it was a westerly wind.
989
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:06,250
It was taking the blast away,
990
00:48:06,250 --> 00:48:08,050
the smoke away from the community.
991
00:48:08,050 --> 00:48:10,790
Who knows what's in that plume of smoke.
992
00:48:10,790 --> 00:48:13,670
In these plants, they got hundreds,
993
00:48:13,670 --> 00:48:15,810
thousands of different types of chemicals.
994
00:48:15,810 --> 00:48:17,712
- Mike Orr showed me
the plant in question.
995
00:48:17,712 --> 00:48:20,120
- Then ten minutes from
the time explosion happen,
996
00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:22,960
I got to call and some
people there got so scared
997
00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:25,320
that they were on some of
the pieces of equipment
998
00:48:25,320 --> 00:48:26,770
in the area there.
999
00:48:26,770 --> 00:48:30,900
They just got off the equipment,
ran to the parking lot,
1000
00:48:30,900 --> 00:48:32,990
got into their own vehicles
and just took off right
1001
00:48:32,990 --> 00:48:35,510
out of it, that's how scared they was.
1002
00:48:35,510 --> 00:48:38,620
- Mike took me on a mystery
tour to an area in the Bush
1003
00:48:38,620 --> 00:48:40,700
that was attracting national attention.
1004
00:48:40,700 --> 00:48:43,200
(egine roars)
1005
00:48:47,374 --> 00:48:52,374
(water splashing)
(engine roars)
1006
00:48:56,826 --> 00:49:00,097
(engine revs)
1007
00:49:00,097 --> 00:49:03,178
(engine roars)
(water splashes)
1008
00:49:03,178 --> 00:49:05,720
We finally arrived and then I saw it.
1009
00:49:05,720 --> 00:49:08,450
The ugliest waterfall I'd ever seen
1010
00:49:08,450 --> 00:49:11,970
I had followed my imaginary
drop of water into a graveyard.
1011
00:49:11,970 --> 00:49:13,510
- It's a three sided tailings pond.
1012
00:49:13,510 --> 00:49:16,740
Yes, they have three berms
and the one side is open
1013
00:49:16,740 --> 00:49:18,710
to the vegetation and everything
1014
00:49:18,710 --> 00:49:19,840
right into the bushes.
1015
00:49:19,840 --> 00:49:21,933
You see all the tar sands there is,
1016
00:49:21,933 --> 00:49:25,780
that what come out of the
pipes from the process.
1017
00:49:25,780 --> 00:49:27,750
I guess in his all comes
into here and flows right
1018
00:49:27,750 --> 00:49:30,530
into there and you get to see
the right into the tree line
1019
00:49:30,530 --> 00:49:32,750
and whatnot, the tar.
1020
00:49:32,750 --> 00:49:33,793
- So it's leaking into the Bush.
1021
00:49:33,793 --> 00:49:36,483
- Right into the bush, right into there,
1022
00:49:37,671 --> 00:49:39,533
When we, when I came out here,
1023
00:49:39,533 --> 00:49:41,640
I've made a few trips out here,
1024
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:45,760
also seeing rabbits, chickens, wolf right
1025
00:49:45,760 --> 00:49:46,593
in this whole area.
1026
00:49:46,593 --> 00:49:48,830
They are here because this
is all fresh vegetation.
1027
00:49:48,830 --> 00:49:52,250
Even CBC News, they
took some shots of that.
1028
00:49:52,250 --> 00:49:54,360
- So, I know all the other tailings ponds,
1029
00:49:54,360 --> 00:49:56,310
they've got berms around them.
1030
00:49:56,310 --> 00:49:58,660
So, but this one you say
is leaking into the bush.
1031
00:49:58,660 --> 00:50:01,113
So how are they allowed to do that?
1032
00:50:02,350 --> 00:50:03,553
- I don't know.
1033
00:50:04,670 --> 00:50:05,880
They started what's approved it,
1034
00:50:05,880 --> 00:50:10,410
it was pre-approved 20
minutes either direction
1035
00:50:10,410 --> 00:50:12,280
we come upon one of these
things and these people
1036
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:16,520
in the community feel
like that lonely cattle.
1037
00:50:16,520 --> 00:50:19,170
You know, because were corralled
in any direction we go.
1038
00:50:19,170 --> 00:50:20,710
It's, we're surrounded here.
1039
00:50:20,710 --> 00:50:23,820
- Mike had taken a CBC reporter
to see the tailings ponds
1040
00:50:23,820 --> 00:50:25,193
in November of 2010.
1041
00:50:26,530 --> 00:50:28,410
When the story broke, it triggered debates
1042
00:50:28,410 --> 00:50:30,900
in both the House of Commons
and the Alberta Legislature.
1043
00:50:30,900 --> 00:50:34,560
- Public had no clue that
apparently unsecured tailings dam
1044
00:50:34,560 --> 00:50:37,280
was being built across trap
lines in Northern Alberta.
1045
00:50:37,280 --> 00:50:38,910
And there was no public consultation
1046
00:50:38,910 --> 00:50:41,050
after the ERCB conditionally approved
1047
00:50:41,050 --> 00:50:44,810
the strange three walled
tailings pond in 2004.
1048
00:50:44,810 --> 00:50:47,790
First it was ducks put at
risk by toxic tailing soup.
1049
00:50:47,790 --> 00:50:49,930
And now animals are
reportedly free to wander
1050
00:50:49,930 --> 00:50:51,600
into this three walled pool.
1051
00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:53,320
So to the Ministry of the Environment,
1052
00:50:53,320 --> 00:50:55,930
how could this government possibly approve
1053
00:50:55,930 --> 00:50:58,350
such a seemingly nonsensical strategy
1054
00:50:58,350 --> 00:51:01,230
for containing liquid toxic sledge?
1055
00:51:01,230 --> 00:51:05,330
- Mr. Speaker, there is an allegation
1056
00:51:05,330 --> 00:51:10,330
that somehow the tailing pond
is not operating as it was.
1057
00:51:11,646 --> 00:51:14,638
It was intended and what
the members referring to
1058
00:51:14,638 --> 00:51:18,170
is a footprint for a pond
that is not yet full.
1059
00:51:18,170 --> 00:51:19,930
The pond is rising.
1060
00:51:19,930 --> 00:51:24,320
It is not going beyond the
footprint that was designated.
1061
00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:25,920
- Can the minister now tell this house
1062
00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:27,490
whether he's received that report
1063
00:51:27,490 --> 00:51:28,770
and whether he will table it
1064
00:51:28,770 --> 00:51:31,330
in the legislature to prove his claim
1065
00:51:31,330 --> 00:51:33,770
that his three sided pool is not leaking
1066
00:51:33,770 --> 00:51:34,603
into the water.
1067
00:51:34,603 --> 00:51:36,560
- [Mr. Speaker] The honorable Minister
1068
00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:40,020
- Trying, well again, Mr. Speaker,
1069
00:51:40,020 --> 00:51:42,710
the member is referring to
a report that was requested
1070
00:51:42,710 --> 00:51:43,550
by the ERCB.
1071
00:51:43,550 --> 00:51:46,810
I remind her one more
time that the ERCB reports
1072
00:51:46,810 --> 00:51:47,740
to the minister of energy,
1073
00:51:47,740 --> 00:51:49,490
not to the minister of environment.
1074
00:51:49,490 --> 00:51:50,983
- [Mr. Speaker] The honorable member?
1075
00:51:51,860 --> 00:51:54,010
- Wow, duck and dive there,
1076
00:51:54,010 --> 00:51:54,843
so well could the minister please advise
1077
00:51:54,843 --> 00:51:55,852
the house whether--
1078
00:51:55,852 --> 00:51:57,869
- We gotta hold industry accountable
1079
00:51:57,869 --> 00:51:59,530
we will always be checking out in the bush
1080
00:51:59,530 --> 00:52:02,070
like this out in our area,
wherever we can, you know, yeah.
1081
00:52:02,070 --> 00:52:04,730
- The oil company
responded to the attention
1082
00:52:04,730 --> 00:52:07,080
that they were getting by
cutting down all the trees
1083
00:52:07,080 --> 00:52:09,913
around the pond to avoid
attracting animals.
1084
00:52:14,280 --> 00:52:16,083
- These are fresh moose tracks.
1085
00:52:18,062 --> 00:52:18,895
- Correct but these are--
1086
00:52:18,895 --> 00:52:21,127
- This are fresh?
- That's fresh
1087
00:52:21,127 --> 00:52:23,794
(milling sound)
1088
00:52:27,440 --> 00:52:29,620
- Thinking we were a herd of Caribou,
1089
00:52:29,620 --> 00:52:32,893
the noisemakers designed to
scare animals away went off.
1090
00:52:36,660 --> 00:52:39,975
My personal favorite
was the screaming man.
1091
00:52:39,975 --> 00:52:42,200
(man scream)
1092
00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:43,977
- There has been a Muskrat
swimming right there
1093
00:52:43,977 --> 00:52:45,910
and you can see there's still no barrier.
1094
00:52:45,910 --> 00:52:47,730
There's no differentiating
1095
00:52:47,730 --> 00:52:48,930
between what the tailing's water is
1096
00:52:48,930 --> 00:52:50,980
and what the fresh water is.
1097
00:52:50,980 --> 00:52:54,400
This is the fourth side of
the tailings that's open.
1098
00:52:54,400 --> 00:52:56,580
They may have been operating
within their legal permit
1099
00:52:56,580 --> 00:52:58,113
but not their moral permit.
1100
00:52:59,540 --> 00:53:02,490
And in that sense, I mean,
how could this design
1101
00:53:02,490 --> 00:53:04,180
be hidden from Canada?
1102
00:53:04,180 --> 00:53:06,994
How could it be hidden
from the people of McKay?
1103
00:53:06,994 --> 00:53:10,260
(engine roars)
1104
00:53:10,260 --> 00:53:13,300
- So, we're just out for a Sunday drive
1105
00:53:13,300 --> 00:53:15,740
with the family, going to
see the tailings ponds.
1106
00:53:15,740 --> 00:53:18,157
(all laughs)
1107
00:53:19,410 --> 00:53:20,600
back in McKay
1108
00:53:20,600 --> 00:53:23,460
Mel Grand Jams surprise
me with a revelation.
1109
00:53:23,460 --> 00:53:26,983
- One of the things going
back a few years ago,
1110
00:53:27,860 --> 00:53:32,860
was we had an ammonia leak
from one of the southern plants
1111
00:53:33,370 --> 00:53:37,210
and the ammonia level in
the community was quite high
1112
00:53:37,210 --> 00:53:39,430
and intense and, and it got to a point
1113
00:53:39,430 --> 00:53:44,290
where we had to bring
emergency response paramedics
1114
00:53:44,290 --> 00:53:46,860
to the school because some
of the kids were vomiting
1115
00:53:46,860 --> 00:53:48,145
and those kinds of things.
1116
00:53:48,145 --> 00:53:49,660
- You got into the school?
1117
00:53:49,660 --> 00:53:53,080
The leak was caused by the
failure of a desulfurization flew
1118
00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:56,308
in the tar sands plant just south of town.
1119
00:53:56,308 --> 00:53:59,141
(dramatic sounds)
1120
00:54:01,600 --> 00:54:03,420
Can you tell me what happened that day?
1121
00:54:03,420 --> 00:54:05,627
- You were getting
lightheaded, people were puking
1122
00:54:05,627 --> 00:54:09,430
and a few passed out and like
everyone was freaking out
1123
00:54:09,430 --> 00:54:11,000
and they didn't know what to do.
1124
00:54:11,000 --> 00:54:12,340
- So were you scared or?
1125
00:54:12,340 --> 00:54:14,497
- I actually had to call
my mom to come get me
1126
00:54:14,497 --> 00:54:15,933
because I was scared.
1127
00:54:17,220 --> 00:54:18,920
- And did you go to a hospital or?
1128
00:54:18,920 --> 00:54:20,860
- Yeah, got a little sick after
1129
00:54:20,860 --> 00:54:22,320
and they're like a little green
1130
00:54:22,320 --> 00:54:25,413
and my mum take me to the
hospital, I could barely breathe.
1131
00:54:26,580 --> 00:54:28,160
- Hi Leona.
Yes.
1132
00:54:28,160 --> 00:54:29,680
- David.
- Nice to meet you David.
1133
00:54:29,680 --> 00:54:32,280
Hey, we can go to the grade one classroom.
1134
00:54:32,280 --> 00:54:33,650
- Okay, great.
1135
00:54:33,650 --> 00:54:35,960
Okay, this was really getting
bad and in the school,
1136
00:54:35,960 --> 00:54:36,793
you could just smell it.
1137
00:54:36,793 --> 00:54:38,363
- What did it smell like?
1138
00:54:39,830 --> 00:54:42,040
- I really bad gas like
something like from,
1139
00:54:43,520 --> 00:54:44,730
I dunno, rotten egg
1140
00:54:44,730 --> 00:54:47,387
or something but a lot of
kids who are starting to say,
1141
00:54:47,387 --> 00:54:48,397
"I don't feel good.
1142
00:54:48,397 --> 00:54:51,427
"I'm getting dizzy and
can you call my parent?
1143
00:54:51,427 --> 00:54:52,697
"Can you call my mom?"
1144
00:54:52,697 --> 00:54:54,667
I'm adding all together,
1145
00:54:54,667 --> 00:54:56,250
(inaudible chatter)
1146
00:54:56,250 --> 00:54:58,379
tune in to my meaning all together?
1147
00:54:58,379 --> 00:55:01,212
(dramatic sounds)
1148
00:55:03,240 --> 00:55:05,800
- They were 20 old kids affected.
1149
00:55:05,800 --> 00:55:08,960
Five of them were transported
to the ER in Fort McMurray.
1150
00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:11,020
- What's the general
response as a physician
1151
00:55:11,020 --> 00:55:12,060
when you come across somebody
1152
00:55:12,060 --> 00:55:13,970
who's been poisoned by ammonia?
1153
00:55:13,970 --> 00:55:16,760
- Ammonia or anhydrous
ammonia is ammonic acid
1154
00:55:16,760 --> 00:55:21,760
is very caustic, the symptoms
can vary from mild irritation,
1155
00:55:22,200 --> 00:55:23,970
nasal passage irritation
1156
00:55:23,970 --> 00:55:25,933
to more severe mucosal involved
1157
00:55:25,933 --> 00:55:28,940
that can involve the air way or lungs.
1158
00:55:28,940 --> 00:55:31,340
Generally respiratory support is needed.
1159
00:55:31,340 --> 00:55:34,470
So anything from very mild to quite severe
1160
00:55:34,470 --> 00:55:36,700
can use big expectation in the community
1161
00:55:36,700 --> 00:55:38,770
but will be more events
1162
00:55:38,770 --> 00:55:41,950
or process upsets as the
industry likes to call them.
1163
00:55:41,950 --> 00:55:43,140
- Process upsets.
1164
00:55:43,140 --> 00:55:44,160
- Process upset,
1165
00:55:44,160 --> 00:55:45,340
- Oh, wow.
1166
00:55:45,340 --> 00:55:48,690
- it's a dangerous industry
as bringing so upsets
1167
00:55:48,690 --> 00:55:50,701
and what MacKay is right smacked up
1168
00:55:50,701 --> 00:55:52,051
in the middle of it, right.
1169
00:55:55,580 --> 00:55:56,930
- Who's responsible?
1170
00:55:56,930 --> 00:55:59,155
- Well, everybody can
easily point at the plants.
1171
00:55:59,155 --> 00:56:01,240
Well, when you go back further,
1172
00:56:01,240 --> 00:56:03,840
who's giving these plants
permission to operate?
1173
00:56:03,840 --> 00:56:07,060
Who's setting the guidelines,
who setting the parameters?
1174
00:56:07,060 --> 00:56:08,890
It's Provincial government.
1175
00:56:08,890 --> 00:56:10,170
- And who's buying the product?
1176
00:56:10,170 --> 00:56:11,460
- That's right and who's buying product
1177
00:56:11,460 --> 00:56:13,690
and then I'm driving a vehicle
that's needs oil and gas?
1178
00:56:13,690 --> 00:56:15,470
I'm just as one to blame,
1179
00:56:15,470 --> 00:56:19,130
but it's got to be done
in a very proactive,
1180
00:56:19,130 --> 00:56:22,713
measurable way where somehow
it has to re-sustain itself.
1181
00:56:22,713 --> 00:56:24,310
(water bubble)
1182
00:56:24,310 --> 00:56:25,850
- This is really, I don't know,
1183
00:56:25,850 --> 00:56:27,180
it's just really disturbing.
1184
00:56:27,180 --> 00:56:32,180
I mean, the most disturbing part
1185
00:56:32,200 --> 00:56:35,480
about it I think is, you
know, how much of of this,
1186
00:56:35,480 --> 00:56:37,480
I'm a part of this problem
1187
00:56:37,480 --> 00:56:40,740
and you know, I got a letter
in the mail the other day.
1188
00:56:40,740 --> 00:56:42,700
It was my mutual fund statement
1189
00:56:42,700 --> 00:56:45,270
and it told me I actually have
holdings in these companies
1190
00:56:45,270 --> 00:56:48,320
that do this kind of stuff and you know,
1191
00:56:48,320 --> 00:56:50,230
I burned a lot of oil to get up here.
1192
00:56:50,230 --> 00:56:51,670
I'm such a part of this problem,
1193
00:56:51,670 --> 00:56:53,760
but if I'm a part of this problem,
1194
00:56:53,760 --> 00:56:56,540
converse, that means I'm
also part of the solution.
1195
00:56:56,540 --> 00:57:01,130
And the ironic thing about
this is that it happened
1196
00:57:01,130 --> 00:57:03,510
on April 28, 2006.
1197
00:57:03,510 --> 00:57:08,510
So that's two years to the day
prior to the ducks incident,
1198
00:57:08,610 --> 00:57:10,060
I mean two years to the date.
1199
00:57:10,060 --> 00:57:12,150
That's not a coincidence.
1200
00:57:12,150 --> 00:57:15,100
That's the universe trying
to tell us something.
1201
00:57:15,100 --> 00:57:16,900
- What are you going to do about it?
1202
00:57:18,320 --> 00:57:19,370
- What am I gonna do?
1203
00:57:20,540 --> 00:57:24,020
well, I believe in the power of questions.
1204
00:57:24,020 --> 00:57:27,040
If you ask a person in a
position of power, a question,
1205
00:57:27,040 --> 00:57:29,390
it tells them that you
are paying attention
1206
00:57:29,390 --> 00:57:30,410
to what they're doing.
1207
00:57:30,410 --> 00:57:31,930
When you pay attention to their behavior,
1208
00:57:31,930 --> 00:57:33,090
their behavior changes.
1209
00:57:33,090 --> 00:57:35,010
So I want to ask a question specifically
1210
00:57:35,010 --> 00:57:35,980
to Alberta Environment.
1211
00:57:35,980 --> 00:57:37,300
They're the ones that are responsible
1212
00:57:37,300 --> 00:57:38,670
for this kind of stuff.
1213
00:57:38,670 --> 00:57:40,570
Then I wanna ask What's the consequence
1214
00:57:40,570 --> 00:57:42,890
when you do this to kids in a school?
1215
00:57:42,890 --> 00:57:44,410
You know, what was the fine?
1216
00:57:44,410 --> 00:57:45,870
That's what I wanna know.
1217
00:57:45,870 --> 00:57:48,250
- Some instances, instances
where these things occur,
1218
00:57:48,250 --> 00:57:50,890
best management practices were followed
1219
00:57:53,855 --> 00:57:56,170
where we tend where we tend
1220
00:57:56,170 --> 00:57:59,350
to get companies a severely fined
1221
00:57:59,350 --> 00:58:01,974
is when they fail to report, when--
1222
00:58:01,974 --> 00:58:04,670
- That's management practices
when you have ammonia coming
1223
00:58:04,670 --> 00:58:05,613
into a school?
1224
00:58:06,540 --> 00:58:07,780
- Yeah and here's the deal.
1225
00:58:07,780 --> 00:58:11,210
Some unforeseen event
occurs, accident occurs
1226
00:58:11,210 --> 00:58:13,890
and your followup is
done absolutely right.
1227
00:58:13,890 --> 00:58:15,337
Then you're gonna get probably
1228
00:58:15,337 --> 00:58:17,357
a much more lenient result.
1229
00:58:21,520 --> 00:58:24,470
- Preston didn't clarify
for me if a fine was issued.
1230
00:58:24,470 --> 00:58:26,480
So I called his colleague Jessica Potter
1231
00:58:26,480 --> 00:58:27,970
at Alberta Environment.
1232
00:58:27,970 --> 00:58:30,417
- [Jessica] We issued an
environmental protection notice
1233
00:58:30,417 --> 00:58:33,710
and they did everything to a satisfaction
1234
00:58:33,710 --> 00:58:35,140
to rectify the situation.
1235
00:58:35,140 --> 00:58:38,713
- what is the process for a
company to actually get a fine?
1236
00:58:39,960 --> 00:58:41,610
- [Jessica] We looks to Work,
1237
00:58:41,610 --> 00:58:43,741
education and prevention first.
1238
00:58:43,741 --> 00:58:44,894
- Okay.
1239
00:58:44,894 --> 00:58:48,500
- Then we, then from
there we moved through,
1240
00:58:48,500 --> 00:58:52,446
there's a variety of
steps that we can take
1241
00:58:52,446 --> 00:58:53,887
to view into compliant.
1242
00:58:53,887 --> 00:58:56,030
- Are you guys aware that this happened
1243
00:58:56,030 --> 00:58:57,500
to the elementary school?
1244
00:58:57,500 --> 00:58:59,770
- [Jessica] I actually need you
to send me some more details
1245
00:58:59,770 --> 00:59:00,737
about what you are referring too.
1246
00:59:00,737 --> 00:59:04,620
- I mean it seems like a
pretty important detail.
1247
00:59:04,620 --> 00:59:05,563
- [Jessica] Okay, you know--
- It's pretty serious.
1248
00:59:05,563 --> 00:59:07,930
- [Jessica] I'll tell you
this isn't what the interview
1249
00:59:07,930 --> 00:59:10,410
is supposed to be about.
1250
00:59:10,410 --> 00:59:14,120
- Well, just like comparing
it to society in general
1251
00:59:14,120 --> 00:59:18,530
if I speed through a crosswalk
at 140 kilometers an hour,
1252
00:59:18,530 --> 00:59:21,490
it just seems like this would be one
1253
00:59:21,490 --> 00:59:25,390
of those incidents that
is far more serious that--
1254
00:59:25,390 --> 00:59:27,147
- [Jessica] it was, there
was an investigation.
1255
00:59:27,147 --> 00:59:28,360
that's what resulted
1256
00:59:28,360 --> 00:59:30,400
with the environmental protection order.
1257
00:59:30,400 --> 00:59:33,790
- So no fine, no penalty, no consequence.
1258
00:59:33,790 --> 00:59:36,900
Back in the 80s, I had a similar
experience with this kind
1259
00:59:36,900 --> 00:59:37,760
of emission release.
1260
00:59:37,760 --> 00:59:40,660
- [Reporter] On October 17, 1982,
1261
00:59:40,660 --> 00:59:45,090
the Amoco Dome Brazeau well 1312, 4812.
1262
00:59:45,090 --> 00:59:47,570
West of fifth Meridian experienced
1263
00:59:47,570 --> 00:59:49,880
an uncontrolled blow of gas
1264
00:59:49,880 --> 00:59:52,670
or commonly called a blower.
1265
00:59:52,670 --> 00:59:55,040
This major well site incident became known
1266
00:59:55,040 --> 00:59:57,243
as the blowout at lodgepole.
1267
00:59:58,710 --> 01:00:01,810
- The blood at Lodgepole
was about 175 kilometers
1268
01:00:01,810 --> 01:00:03,190
from our house.
1269
01:00:03,190 --> 01:00:05,820
That week my father suffered
to allergic reactions
1270
01:00:05,820 --> 01:00:09,200
to the hydrogen sulfide in the
atmosphere and clung to life
1271
01:00:09,200 --> 01:00:11,350
in the emergency room in Edmonton.
1272
01:00:11,350 --> 01:00:14,170
- [Reporter] The toxic
gas blanketed the site.
1273
01:00:14,170 --> 01:00:15,500
This necessitated the use
1274
01:00:15,500 --> 01:00:19,120
of breathing apparatus which
slowed and complicated to work.
1275
01:00:19,120 --> 01:00:22,240
On many days, work was prevented entirely.
1276
01:00:22,240 --> 01:00:23,870
- It's not easy to forget watching
1277
01:00:23,870 --> 01:00:25,516
your father struggled to breathe.
1278
01:00:25,516 --> 01:00:28,266
(dramatic music)
1279
01:00:38,134 --> 01:00:40,634
(door clings)
1280
01:00:47,043 --> 01:00:49,420
So about a year ago, I moved from Alberta
1281
01:00:49,420 --> 01:00:52,300
to British Columbia, but it
appears as though the tar sands
1282
01:00:52,300 --> 01:00:53,770
have followed me here to BC.
1283
01:00:53,770 --> 01:00:55,140
There's a proposed pipeline.
1284
01:00:55,140 --> 01:00:57,600
It's called the Enbridge
Northern Gateway Pipeline
1285
01:00:57,600 --> 01:01:00,330
and it's gonna go from
Edmonton, my hometown,
1286
01:01:00,330 --> 01:01:04,000
all the way to Kitimat BC on
the northern Pacific coast.
1287
01:01:04,000 --> 01:01:06,670
There's a series of public
consultation meetings called
1288
01:01:06,670 --> 01:01:09,560
the Joint Review Panel
and in which they decide
1289
01:01:09,560 --> 01:01:11,110
whether or not to approve this pipeline.
1290
01:01:11,110 --> 01:01:14,278
So just heading up
there to check that out.
1291
01:01:14,278 --> 01:01:17,028
(dramatic music)
1292
01:01:23,744 --> 01:01:26,161
(Raven caws)
1293
01:01:33,736 --> 01:01:37,903
(people sings in native language)
1294
01:01:43,270 --> 01:01:47,483
- We have traveled to Kitimat
from Bella Bella our village.
1295
01:01:48,620 --> 01:01:52,130
That communities are
commercial fishing village.
1296
01:01:52,130 --> 01:01:55,813
We take our sustenance from
the land and sea still today.
1297
01:01:57,040 --> 01:01:58,780
That is what is at risk.
1298
01:01:58,780 --> 01:02:03,780
We are not prepared to risk everything
1299
01:02:03,890 --> 01:02:05,133
and gain nothing.
1300
01:02:05,133 --> 01:02:06,816
(cloud applauds)
1301
01:02:06,816 --> 01:02:09,450
- I wanna say thank you the highest people
1302
01:02:09,450 --> 01:02:11,676
for having this on their
traditional territory.
1303
01:02:11,676 --> 01:02:14,840
(cloud applauds)
1304
01:02:14,840 --> 01:02:18,680
I gotta say, it feels a bit
like Deja Vu all over again.
1305
01:02:18,680 --> 01:02:21,750
Hey, gotta get together
every once in a while
1306
01:02:21,750 --> 01:02:23,457
because some motor head
in Calgary he says,
1307
01:02:23,457 --> 01:02:25,437
"Hey, I've got an idea.
1308
01:02:25,437 --> 01:02:28,337
"Let's drill for coal bed
methane up at the headwaters
1309
01:02:28,337 --> 01:02:30,230
"of all your major rivers."
1310
01:02:30,230 --> 01:02:33,500
And we all gotta get together
and say, "No thanks".
1311
01:02:33,500 --> 01:02:35,070
Now Enbridge is shown up.
1312
01:02:35,070 --> 01:02:38,430
The idea that for 50 years, every year,
1313
01:02:38,430 --> 01:02:41,550
more than 250 of these massive
ships are going to head out
1314
01:02:41,550 --> 01:02:46,550
of this port and not make
one single mistake is lunacy,
1315
01:02:47,251 --> 01:02:48,310
- [Man shouts] Impossible.
1316
01:02:48,310 --> 01:02:52,300
- The idea that you can put
an 1100 kilometer pipeline
1317
01:02:52,300 --> 01:02:55,110
from here across all those mountains
1318
01:02:55,110 --> 01:02:58,370
across all those rivers
all the way to Alberta
1319
01:02:58,370 --> 01:03:02,300
and not have a major spill is idiocy.
1320
01:03:02,300 --> 01:03:05,670
The idea that you can double
the size of the tar sands
1321
01:03:05,670 --> 01:03:08,030
and not have an impact
on this poor old world
1322
01:03:08,030 --> 01:03:10,503
of ours is madness.
1323
01:03:13,680 --> 01:03:16,520
- Northern Gateway pipeline
for limited partnership applied
1324
01:03:16,520 --> 01:03:17,460
to the board.
1325
01:03:17,460 --> 01:03:19,610
They're looking for
authorization to construct
1326
01:03:19,610 --> 01:03:22,790
and operate the Enbridge
Northern Gateway Project.
1327
01:03:22,790 --> 01:03:27,790
- So we come here today to begin a process
1328
01:03:27,930 --> 01:03:32,010
that we have serious misgivings about
1329
01:03:32,010 --> 01:03:36,170
but what we don't have
misgivings about is the support
1330
01:03:36,170 --> 01:03:39,933
from not only the Heiltsuk,
1331
01:03:39,933 --> 01:03:42,740
TSimshian including the Gitga'at.
1332
01:03:42,740 --> 01:03:45,880
The power is throughout this territory.
1333
01:03:45,880 --> 01:03:49,560
I don't wear this flag
or my shoulder lately.
1334
01:03:49,560 --> 01:03:52,580
It's a message that we are part of Canada.
1335
01:03:52,580 --> 01:03:55,883
I want to speak for Canadian because I am.
1336
01:03:57,540 --> 01:03:59,150
- [Narrator] for more
than a thousand years
1337
01:03:59,150 --> 01:04:00,770
on the northwest coast
1338
01:04:00,770 --> 01:04:04,560
all life has revolved
around the salmon economy.
1339
01:04:04,560 --> 01:04:08,373
Today the focus is the fight
to protect this heritage.
1340
01:04:09,280 --> 01:04:11,100
- A few years ago we commissioned a study
1341
01:04:11,100 --> 01:04:14,090
through IBM consulting
that looked at the value
1342
01:04:14,090 --> 01:04:16,510
of the wild salmon economy
on the skin of watershed
1343
01:04:16,510 --> 01:04:19,500
and they came up with a
figure of 110 million,
1344
01:04:19,500 --> 01:04:22,750
- So that's a significant
dollar amount for people earning
1345
01:04:22,750 --> 01:04:23,770
their living up here.
1346
01:04:23,770 --> 01:04:26,830
- Yes, that's right and of
course it's basic sustenance
1347
01:04:26,830 --> 01:04:29,630
for First Nation and also
a lot of other residents
1348
01:04:29,630 --> 01:04:31,320
in the area,
1349
01:04:31,320 --> 01:04:33,260
- [Man] Jolly time in the old days
1350
01:04:33,260 --> 01:04:35,670
was describe as a dinner plate
1351
01:04:35,670 --> 01:04:40,210
of the Haida people and every
territory along the coast.
1352
01:04:40,210 --> 01:04:43,510
These places exist and
continue to exist in some areas
1353
01:04:43,510 --> 01:04:48,170
you've heard when the tide
goes out our table is there,
1354
01:04:48,170 --> 01:04:50,723
that reality exists today.
1355
01:04:51,570 --> 01:04:54,090
- No one can guarantee us
that there'll be no spills
1356
01:04:54,090 --> 01:04:56,340
if the panel recommends
the project and in effect,
1357
01:04:56,340 --> 01:04:59,060
you are forcing us to live
in fear ,300 days a year,
1358
01:04:59,060 --> 01:05:01,430
we're gonna wake up in
the morning wondering
1359
01:05:01,430 --> 01:05:03,443
if this is the day our community dies.
1360
01:05:05,780 --> 01:05:08,910
- [Narrator] These threats to
rivers are not hypothetical.
1361
01:05:08,910 --> 01:05:11,940
Three weeks before the
Joint Review Panel meeting,
1362
01:05:11,940 --> 01:05:15,020
Enbridge spilled three
point 3.3.000,000 liters
1363
01:05:15,020 --> 01:05:17,490
of bitumen crude from Northern Alberta
1364
01:05:17,490 --> 01:05:20,400
into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.
1365
01:05:20,400 --> 01:05:22,920
This isn't just a one time incident.
1366
01:05:22,920 --> 01:05:25,100
There have been eight documented ruptures
1367
01:05:25,100 --> 01:05:29,850
from Enbridge's Canadian
pipeline systems since 1992.
1368
01:05:29,850 --> 01:05:31,550
- [Man] It's been noted around the world.
1369
01:05:31,550 --> 01:05:35,510
Fifteen percent collection of
oil is considered a success.
1370
01:05:35,510 --> 01:05:36,343
- [David] Fifteen percent
1371
01:05:36,343 --> 01:05:37,176
- one, five percent.
1372
01:05:37,176 --> 01:05:38,050
- [David] They call that success?
1373
01:05:38,050 --> 01:05:39,290
- They call that success.
1374
01:05:39,290 --> 01:05:41,060
And because of the difficulty to clean up.
1375
01:05:41,060 --> 01:05:43,590
The panel is going to take all
these comments that they hear
1376
01:05:43,590 --> 01:05:47,760
and it will shape the
next phase of the process.
1377
01:05:47,760 --> 01:05:50,150
- The National Energy Board
rarely ever turns down
1378
01:05:50,150 --> 01:05:51,423
an energy project.
1379
01:05:52,300 --> 01:05:56,800
Their whole raison d'etre
is to permit energy projects
1380
01:05:56,800 --> 01:05:58,070
- Has the National Energy Board
1381
01:05:58,070 --> 01:06:01,010
actually ever turned up down a pipeline.
1382
01:06:01,010 --> 01:06:03,760
- I'll have to get back to
you about like how far back
1383
01:06:03,760 --> 01:06:07,710
to find, you know, a pipeline
that may have been rejected.
1384
01:06:07,710 --> 01:06:11,200
♪ Pay there Mr Ticket,
go look at my country. ♪
1385
01:06:11,200 --> 01:06:14,747
It's the Eden and the apple of my eye.
1386
01:06:16,661 --> 01:06:20,111
♪ You come up from your
office in the city. ♪
1387
01:06:20,111 --> 01:06:24,511
♪ I will meet you at
the river by and by, ♪
1388
01:06:24,511 --> 01:06:29,011
♪I cannot let this pass me by, oo ooh ♪
1389
01:06:30,480 --> 01:06:31,890
- What I've learned on this journey
1390
01:06:31,890 --> 01:06:34,660
is that there is a triangle
of concern with regards
1391
01:06:34,660 --> 01:06:38,780
to the tar sands. It extends
from Inuvik to Hudson's bay
1392
01:06:38,780 --> 01:06:42,720
to the Pacific coast, over
half of Canada's water.
1393
01:06:42,720 --> 01:06:45,303
(guitar plays)
1394
01:06:48,728 --> 01:06:53,536
♪ Hey there Mr. Ticket,
go look at my country. ♪
1395
01:06:53,536 --> 01:06:56,460
(clouds applauds)
1396
01:06:56,460 --> 01:07:00,780
- We're locking cells into
a 20th century energy system
1397
01:07:00,780 --> 01:07:03,910
on the cusp of a transition
to a new energy system.
1398
01:07:03,910 --> 01:07:06,190
And while yes you and I
both drove our cars here,
1399
01:07:06,190 --> 01:07:09,260
fueled with oil which has
probably got a genesis
1400
01:07:09,260 --> 01:07:10,850
from the tar sands, there's no need
1401
01:07:10,850 --> 01:07:12,880
for that twenty years from now.
1402
01:07:12,880 --> 01:07:16,040
We can transform our vehicles stock
1403
01:07:16,040 --> 01:07:17,640
in North America in 10 years
1404
01:07:17,640 --> 01:07:19,290
if we really put our minds to it.
1405
01:07:22,150 --> 01:07:24,870
- Little did I know that my
innocent journey of following
1406
01:07:24,870 --> 01:07:28,190
a drop of water would
lead me into such darkness
1407
01:07:28,190 --> 01:07:31,050
but honestly I cannot think
of a more useless emotion
1408
01:07:31,050 --> 01:07:34,990
than despair, I needed
more, I needed hope,
1409
01:07:34,990 --> 01:07:37,710
So I went to Pincher Creek,
a southern Alberta region,
1410
01:07:37,710 --> 01:07:39,600
sculpted by the winds.
1411
01:07:39,600 --> 01:07:43,340
Here the trees have adapted to
the wind by growing into it.
1412
01:07:43,340 --> 01:07:46,093
I wonder can human beings do the same?
1413
01:07:46,998 --> 01:07:49,581
(engine roars)
1414
01:07:56,100 --> 01:07:58,720
Ironically, in order
to get a sneak preview
1415
01:07:58,720 --> 01:08:01,230
into Canada's potential energy future,
1416
01:08:01,230 --> 01:08:03,440
I had to go back in time.
1417
01:08:03,440 --> 01:08:06,550
This Hutterite community
is embracing a new paradigm
1418
01:08:06,550 --> 01:08:10,440
of how we can produce use
and distributed energy.
1419
01:08:10,440 --> 01:08:13,470
Mike Gross is one of the elders community.
1420
01:08:13,470 --> 01:08:15,943
- We voluntarily have
half of it light us all
1421
01:08:15,943 --> 01:08:18,960
- Tell me about the colony, how big is it?
1422
01:08:18,960 --> 01:08:21,330
- We are about 125 people.
1423
01:08:21,330 --> 01:08:22,845
We are Anabaptist.
1424
01:08:22,845 --> 01:08:24,313
- Anabaptist?
1425
01:08:24,313 --> 01:08:25,640
- Anabaptist
- Okay.
1426
01:08:25,640 --> 01:08:27,109
- From 1500.
1427
01:08:27,109 --> 01:08:28,398
- 1,500 from a long time ago.
1428
01:08:28,398 --> 01:08:30,010
- From a long time ago, yeah
1429
01:08:30,010 --> 01:08:31,720
and we've been living in a community way
1430
01:08:31,720 --> 01:08:33,550
of life ever since.
1431
01:08:33,550 --> 01:08:36,189
We are all with for something
that's new out there.
1432
01:08:36,189 --> 01:08:39,580
We wanna be the first
ones to to try anything
1433
01:08:39,580 --> 01:08:42,760
that's new out there and that's
why we were the first ones
1434
01:08:42,760 --> 01:08:44,023
to put up windmills.
1435
01:08:45,180 --> 01:08:49,810
These 60 windmills, they
produce enough power
1436
01:08:50,919 --> 01:08:53,846
to a light and heat and 17,000 homes.
1437
01:08:55,649 --> 01:08:57,323
- 17,000?
- 17,000 homes.
1438
01:08:57,323 --> 01:08:58,162
- With just These?
1439
01:08:58,162 --> 01:08:59,740
- Yes, these 60 windmills.
1440
01:08:59,740 --> 01:09:00,573
- Wow, yeah.
1441
01:09:00,573 --> 01:09:01,406
- For a year.
1442
01:09:01,406 --> 01:09:02,490
- For a year.
- Yeah.
1443
01:09:06,210 --> 01:09:08,040
- Turbines in this area are considered
1444
01:09:08,040 --> 01:09:09,810
a second cash crop for farmers
1445
01:09:09,810 --> 01:09:12,510
and ranchers which in
some cases actually helped
1446
01:09:12,510 --> 01:09:15,890
the family survive current economic times.
1447
01:09:15,890 --> 01:09:17,960
One farmer told me that the average income
1448
01:09:17,960 --> 01:09:20,817
for having wind turbines
on your land is between 50
1449
01:09:20,817 --> 01:09:24,910
and $75,000 per quarter
section of land per year.
1450
01:09:24,910 --> 01:09:28,540
This industry also creates high
skilled jobs in rural areas
1451
01:09:28,540 --> 01:09:31,540
and provides the local
municipality with 20 percent
1452
01:09:31,540 --> 01:09:36,080
of its total tax revenues
benefiting all of its residents.
1453
01:09:36,080 --> 01:09:39,220
- The what the turbines
are doing for the farmers,
1454
01:09:39,220 --> 01:09:42,670
they are putting a little
gravy on the potatoes.
1455
01:09:42,670 --> 01:09:43,899
That's what an amount to.
1456
01:09:43,899 --> 01:09:46,100
There's a nice little income from 'em.
1457
01:09:46,100 --> 01:09:49,180
- So we've seen a real
revitalization of a sector
1458
01:09:49,180 --> 01:09:51,960
of our economy that might
otherwise who disappeared.
1459
01:09:51,960 --> 01:09:54,420
- So it's almost like
instead of food versus oil,
1460
01:09:54,420 --> 01:09:56,423
it's wind for food.
1461
01:09:57,860 --> 01:10:01,100
- Yeah and it's a new
approach to a local ownership
1462
01:10:01,100 --> 01:10:04,110
of power production as
opposed to having all
1463
01:10:04,110 --> 01:10:05,900
of that power literally
1464
01:10:05,900 --> 01:10:07,830
and figuratively concentrated in the hands
1465
01:10:07,830 --> 01:10:08,890
of a bigger company
1466
01:10:08,890 --> 01:10:11,150
who's more remote and
doing their own thing
1467
01:10:11,150 --> 01:10:13,640
and oftentimes the benefits aren't coming
1468
01:10:13,640 --> 01:10:14,910
into the community.
1469
01:10:14,910 --> 01:10:17,040
- So it's kind of like a win-win situation
1470
01:10:17,040 --> 01:10:18,672
for your community.
- it's win-win situation.
1471
01:10:18,672 --> 01:10:20,973
It's nice to win
- Wind, wind situation.
1472
01:10:20,973 --> 01:10:21,930
(David laughs)
1473
01:10:21,930 --> 01:10:23,000
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
1474
01:10:23,000 --> 01:10:25,650
Do you know where all the power is going?
1475
01:10:25,650 --> 01:10:29,980
- This lift power is going
to the see trains in Calgary.
1476
01:10:29,980 --> 01:10:31,470
Oh, okay, the see trains in Calgary?
1477
01:10:31,470 --> 01:10:32,790
- Yeah.
- Oh Wow.
1478
01:10:32,790 --> 01:10:35,650
Calgary, Alberta, the nerve
center of Canada's oil
1479
01:10:35,650 --> 01:10:37,240
and gas industry.
1480
01:10:37,240 --> 01:10:40,190
It's where the prime minister
of Canada home riding is.
1481
01:10:40,190 --> 01:10:42,940
It's where all the major
oil companies are located
1482
01:10:42,940 --> 01:10:44,870
and it's where those
companies make decisions
1483
01:10:44,870 --> 01:10:46,440
about the tar sands.
1484
01:10:46,440 --> 01:10:49,393
It's a city bubbling over
with gold rush euphoria.
1485
01:10:50,270 --> 01:10:51,340
If I could find hope
1486
01:10:51,340 --> 01:10:54,200
for a water friendly energy future here,
1487
01:10:54,200 --> 01:10:55,693
then I could find anywhere.
1488
01:10:58,377 --> 01:11:00,794
(bell rings)
1489
01:11:02,407 --> 01:11:04,907
(train zooms)
1490
01:11:08,971 --> 01:11:10,360
- Hey, how is going?
- I'm all right.
1491
01:11:10,360 --> 01:11:13,280
Chris Turner wrote a book
called the Geography of Hope.
1492
01:11:13,280 --> 01:11:15,700
He had traveled around the
world looking for signs
1493
01:11:15,700 --> 01:11:17,790
of hope for a sustainable future
1494
01:11:17,790 --> 01:11:20,610
and had found more hope than
he ever thought possible.
1495
01:11:20,610 --> 01:11:22,393
He even found some here at home.
1496
01:11:23,270 --> 01:11:25,840
I've been on this journey
for the last three years
1497
01:11:25,840 --> 01:11:29,730
and I've heard about some
pretty intensely negative stuff.
1498
01:11:29,730 --> 01:11:33,610
So I'm feeling a bit feeling
a bit of despair actually.
1499
01:11:33,610 --> 01:11:36,880
So, but you had a very
different experience.
1500
01:11:36,880 --> 01:11:38,590
You went around the world
looking for solutions
1501
01:11:38,590 --> 01:11:40,760
and success that the world is having.
1502
01:11:40,760 --> 01:11:43,440
So what gives you hope for the future?
1503
01:11:43,440 --> 01:11:45,560
- Well, probably in the short answer
1504
01:11:45,560 --> 01:11:48,410
is that we have already
built all the tools we need
1505
01:11:48,410 --> 01:11:49,960
to end the age of fossil fuels.
1506
01:11:50,890 --> 01:11:53,670
And, the really encouraging
thing is that anywhere you go,
1507
01:11:53,670 --> 01:11:55,120
where they'd begun this transition,
1508
01:11:55,120 --> 01:11:58,080
they found not only can
they reduce the dependence
1509
01:11:58,080 --> 01:12:01,180
on fossil fuels and reduce
their carbon dioxide emissions,
1510
01:12:01,180 --> 01:12:02,013
but that these tools,
1511
01:12:02,013 --> 01:12:04,210
these decentralized power generation,
1512
01:12:04,210 --> 01:12:06,850
renewable power generation
actually enhance the quality
1513
01:12:06,850 --> 01:12:08,480
of life in the places
where they use them anyway.
1514
01:12:08,480 --> 01:12:09,860
So it's not just a question of going
1515
01:12:09,860 --> 01:12:12,290
without conventional fuel sources.
1516
01:12:12,290 --> 01:12:16,570
We don't want to be wedded
to a giant coal plan
1517
01:12:16,570 --> 01:12:17,403
very far away.
1518
01:12:17,403 --> 01:12:18,827
The only people who
profit from a coal plant
1519
01:12:18,827 --> 01:12:20,490
are the people on the coal plant.
1520
01:12:20,490 --> 01:12:22,480
Everyone else needs
electricity but we don't care
1521
01:12:22,480 --> 01:12:24,940
where it comes from and if
we can be directly involved
1522
01:12:24,940 --> 01:12:25,773
in producing it,
1523
01:12:25,773 --> 01:12:30,160
I think it's just an
enormously appealing prospect
1524
01:12:30,160 --> 01:12:30,993
for most people.
1525
01:12:32,000 --> 01:12:34,300
- So how do you produce your own power?
1526
01:12:34,300 --> 01:12:36,220
Chris told me about a community just south
1527
01:12:36,220 --> 01:12:38,180
of Calgary called Drake Landing
1528
01:12:38,180 --> 01:12:40,093
where we had begun this transition.
1529
01:12:48,260 --> 01:12:49,400
I wonder how much money you save
1530
01:12:49,400 --> 01:12:52,086
on your hot water heating bill with this.
1531
01:12:52,086 --> 01:12:55,110
(water gushes)
1532
01:12:55,110 --> 01:12:57,500
Carpets need a pump bottles.
1533
01:12:57,500 --> 01:12:59,430
A low flow shower head up
1534
01:12:59,430 --> 01:13:01,700
to 40 percent water savings.
1535
01:13:01,700 --> 01:13:03,850
I think we need one of
these up in the plants
1536
01:13:03,850 --> 01:13:04,750
in Fort McMurray.
1537
01:13:04,750 --> 01:13:08,570
- Yeah, some of the thinking
that that's going on right now
1538
01:13:08,570 --> 01:13:12,210
is around a grid where
alight your electric vehicle
1539
01:13:12,210 --> 01:13:14,300
might actually become both something
1540
01:13:14,300 --> 01:13:16,250
that draws from the
power grid when you need
1541
01:13:16,250 --> 01:13:18,460
to charge your battery,
if they're going to go dry
1542
01:13:18,460 --> 01:13:21,790
but it could also be a supply
of energy back into the grid.
1543
01:13:21,790 --> 01:13:24,370
- So that's a wind power
rough in, so I can plug
1544
01:13:24,370 --> 01:13:27,290
in my electric car and get electricity
1545
01:13:27,290 --> 01:13:31,260
from the wind turbines
on my roof, brilliant.
1546
01:13:31,260 --> 01:13:34,110
I never have to go to a gas station again.
1547
01:13:34,110 --> 01:13:35,560
You read in newspapers
1548
01:13:35,560 --> 01:13:37,020
like the financial post or something.
1549
01:13:37,020 --> 01:13:39,950
You know, it's gonna be total chaos
1550
01:13:39,950 --> 01:13:41,250
if we switched to renew,
1551
01:13:41,250 --> 01:13:44,390
the whole economy is gonna collapse.
1552
01:13:44,390 --> 01:13:46,663
How do you argue that?
1553
01:13:47,520 --> 01:13:48,870
- Well, again, I think you just say,
1554
01:13:48,870 --> 01:13:50,560
how have you been to
northern Europe lately?
1555
01:13:50,560 --> 01:13:52,630
Does it look like chaos,
does it look like calamity?
1556
01:13:52,630 --> 01:13:55,570
The only thing, the only thing
that has hurt the economy
1557
01:13:55,570 --> 01:13:56,510
of Germany for example,
1558
01:13:56,510 --> 01:13:58,630
and I've been hearing
for almost 10 years now,
1559
01:13:58,630 --> 01:14:00,200
the Germany was gonna tank it's economy
1560
01:14:00,200 --> 01:14:02,240
with the commitment that
are made to renewables.
1561
01:14:02,240 --> 01:14:05,120
The only thing that really
hurt the German economy
1562
01:14:05,120 --> 01:14:06,940
was the financial chaos unleashed
1563
01:14:06,940 --> 01:14:09,790
by the same brilliant economic
minds who are telling us
1564
01:14:09,790 --> 01:14:11,650
that it would be chaos
to commit to renewables.
1565
01:14:11,650 --> 01:14:15,470
So, I mean the those
people have no credibility.
1566
01:14:15,470 --> 01:14:17,260
They haven't looked
seriously at the problem.
1567
01:14:17,260 --> 01:14:20,670
They are looking for reasons
to extend a status quo
1568
01:14:20,670 --> 01:14:23,050
that benefits them, but
we'd also have to recognize
1569
01:14:23,050 --> 01:14:25,770
the societies when those
interests are no longer all
1570
01:14:25,770 --> 01:14:27,770
of our interests and to say,
1571
01:14:27,770 --> 01:14:30,590
it's okay if the fossil
fuel industry suffers.
1572
01:14:30,590 --> 01:14:32,980
They've prospered for
very, very long time.
1573
01:14:32,980 --> 01:14:34,470
It might be time for them
1574
01:14:34,470 --> 01:14:37,390
to not be the most prosperous
sector of our economy
1575
01:14:37,390 --> 01:14:40,190
- A lot of people would say
that this renewable energy
1576
01:14:40,190 --> 01:14:41,610
is completely utopic.
1577
01:14:41,610 --> 01:14:43,210
What do you say to people like that?
1578
01:14:43,210 --> 01:14:46,530
- I think there were
probably skeptics who said
1579
01:14:46,530 --> 01:14:49,270
that your utopia of wildcatters running
1580
01:14:49,270 --> 01:14:52,140
around striking gushers of oil, you know
1581
01:14:52,140 --> 01:14:55,240
that was utopic and and yet
we saw a very rapid transition
1582
01:14:55,240 --> 01:14:58,200
to oil becoming the
predominant source of fuel
1583
01:14:58,200 --> 01:15:00,050
for our entire transportation system.
1584
01:15:00,960 --> 01:15:03,290
- In a place like Alberta, you
have to be pretty committed
1585
01:15:03,290 --> 01:15:05,870
and altruistic to put
solar panels on your roof.
1586
01:15:05,870 --> 01:15:07,570
It's gonna be a long
time before you get them.
1587
01:15:07,570 --> 01:15:09,470
They will eventually over
the life of the system all
1588
01:15:09,470 --> 01:15:11,940
by themselves pay that off
but if you put it in something
1589
01:15:11,940 --> 01:15:13,790
like a feed in tariff
like they have in Germany,
1590
01:15:13,790 --> 01:15:17,740
you're looking at like five/seven
years where you paid off
1591
01:15:17,740 --> 01:15:19,970
the cost of the system and
you're actually profiting
1592
01:15:19,970 --> 01:15:22,680
from this investment and so
the feed and tariff just puts
1593
01:15:22,680 --> 01:15:26,270
a higher price in the
marketplace on renewable sources.
1594
01:15:26,270 --> 01:15:28,590
- Germany gets 20% of its energy
1595
01:15:28,590 --> 01:15:30,300
from renewable sources.
1596
01:15:30,300 --> 01:15:32,670
In Canada just one percent.
1597
01:15:32,670 --> 01:15:34,620
Clearly we have some catching up to do.
1598
01:15:36,020 --> 01:15:39,290
- One of the things we forget
is there are no open markets,
1599
01:15:39,290 --> 01:15:40,630
not one anywhere in the world.
1600
01:15:40,630 --> 01:15:43,550
We have tilted these things
and manipulated them to do
1601
01:15:43,550 --> 01:15:45,740
what we decided to wanted them to do it.
1602
01:15:45,740 --> 01:15:47,410
- Boy, he wasn't kidding.
1603
01:15:47,410 --> 01:15:50,150
The auditor general of Canada
produced a report saying
1604
01:15:50,150 --> 01:15:53,300
that 1.5 billion dollars
per year is the gift
1605
01:15:53,300 --> 01:15:56,150
that Canadian taxpayers
give to the tar sands.
1606
01:15:56,150 --> 01:15:58,150
Could we maybe put that money elsewhere?
1607
01:15:59,260 --> 01:16:02,740
- All we need to do is go back
in and kinda reject the rules
1608
01:16:02,740 --> 01:16:05,600
which we created ourselves anyway to favor
1609
01:16:05,600 --> 01:16:08,000
the energy sources we
want and not the ones
1610
01:16:08,000 --> 01:16:10,230
that are exhausting our ability
1611
01:16:10,230 --> 01:16:11,910
to live the lodge to win these.
1612
01:16:11,910 --> 01:16:14,140
- We now need to see that same
kind of government support
1613
01:16:14,140 --> 01:16:17,290
for renewable energy
so that it can compete
1614
01:16:17,290 --> 01:16:19,680
and ultimately overtake
forms of power generation
1615
01:16:19,680 --> 01:16:22,280
that are no longer consistent
with what we need to do
1616
01:16:22,280 --> 01:16:23,143
to address climate change.
1617
01:16:23,143 --> 01:16:25,600
- So we have to end the age of fossil fuel
1618
01:16:25,600 --> 01:16:28,150
not because the people who are involved
1619
01:16:28,150 --> 01:16:29,770
in that business are wrong.
1620
01:16:29,770 --> 01:16:31,860
They are providing us with an
essential service that we need
1621
01:16:31,860 --> 01:16:35,010
to make that transition but
because it's time has come
1622
01:16:35,010 --> 01:16:37,540
and we've seen the full impact of it.
1623
01:16:37,540 --> 01:16:40,090
- [David] Any words of
advice for how to communicate
1624
01:16:40,090 --> 01:16:40,923
this to people,
1625
01:16:40,923 --> 01:16:45,100
- I think it's important
to point out the scale
1626
01:16:45,100 --> 01:16:47,450
of the problem we've
created, but I don't think
1627
01:16:47,450 --> 01:16:49,860
that we're going to get
where we need to go.
1628
01:16:49,860 --> 01:16:52,300
using that old kind of
environmental activist model
1629
01:16:52,300 --> 01:16:54,037
of saying, "here's the problem, stop it.
1630
01:16:54,037 --> 01:16:55,950
"Let's protest it until it stops."
1631
01:16:55,950 --> 01:16:58,670
Having identified the problem
that got you motivated.
1632
01:16:58,670 --> 01:17:00,980
the important thing that
could take to the next step
1633
01:17:00,980 --> 01:17:02,930
is that you don't just wanna
talk about the problem.
1634
01:17:02,930 --> 01:17:04,870
You wanna talk about the world
1635
01:17:04,870 --> 01:17:07,490
you'd like to see what that
problem is no longer in it.
1636
01:17:07,490 --> 01:17:11,810
That worldview needs to broad
enough that it can welcome
1637
01:17:11,810 --> 01:17:12,710
just about anyone.
1638
01:17:14,330 --> 01:17:16,571
- What do you wanna be when you grow up?
1639
01:17:16,571 --> 01:17:18,771
- I wanna be a pilot
1640
01:17:18,771 --> 01:17:19,643
- A pilot?
1641
01:17:19,643 --> 01:17:21,300
- A pilot or a pilate?
1642
01:17:21,300 --> 01:17:25,120
- I want to do a pilot
then drive the aeroplane.
1643
01:17:25,120 --> 01:17:26,810
- Oh an airplane.
1644
01:17:26,810 --> 01:17:27,663
- Oh yeah.
1645
01:17:27,663 --> 01:17:28,570
(girl laughs)
1646
01:17:28,570 --> 01:17:31,003
- Will you're playing
have algae oil in it.
1647
01:17:32,530 --> 01:17:34,099
- Maybe it'll be a glider.
1648
01:17:34,099 --> 01:17:34,932
(David laughs)
1649
01:17:34,932 --> 01:17:36,956
What is algae little baby?
1650
01:17:36,956 --> 01:17:39,180
I don't even know what oil is.
1651
01:17:39,180 --> 01:17:41,847
- I don't even know what oil is.
1652
01:17:43,072 --> 01:17:44,776
- Oil is kinda of dirty.
1653
01:17:44,776 --> 01:17:45,609
- Yeah.
1654
01:17:46,915 --> 01:17:49,415
(birds chirp)
1655
01:17:54,650 --> 01:17:57,700
- Finally upon that is not a tailings
1656
01:18:00,570 --> 01:18:05,570
♪ I became a thin blue flame ♪
1657
01:18:07,742 --> 01:18:12,742
♪ polished on the mountain range ♪
1658
01:18:14,984 --> 01:18:19,984
♪ and all the hills and fields I flew ♪
1659
01:18:22,544 --> 01:18:25,930
♪ wrapped up in royal blue. ♪
1660
01:18:25,930 --> 01:18:28,210
- [David] John Muir said it best.
1661
01:18:28,210 --> 01:18:30,620
Anytime you try to pick anything up,
1662
01:18:30,620 --> 01:18:33,617
you find it hitched to
everything else in the universe.
1663
01:18:33,617 --> 01:18:36,918
♪ I run three sisters in
the flush of a land. ♪
1664
01:18:36,918 --> 01:18:40,545
♪ The lake was a dime and
then the valleys held ♪
1665
01:18:40,545 --> 01:18:41,552
♪ I wondered what it was. ♪
1666
01:18:41,552 --> 01:18:44,109
♪ I've been for above ♪
1667
01:18:44,109 --> 01:18:47,109
♪ Having some big bearing no mediocre ♪
1668
01:18:47,109 --> 01:18:50,661
♪ So I stopped looking for
royal cities in the air. ♪
1669
01:18:50,661 --> 01:18:55,328
♪ Only a full house gonna have a player ♪
1670
01:18:58,220 --> 01:19:00,610
- [Narrator] The question remains,
1671
01:19:00,610 --> 01:19:05,380
will Canadians bridged the
gap between white water
1672
01:19:05,380 --> 01:19:06,760
and black gold?
1673
01:19:06,760 --> 01:19:09,343
(upbeat music)
1674
01:19:17,754 --> 01:19:22,754
♪ If the blow a hole in backyard ♪
1675
01:19:22,923 --> 01:19:27,763
♪ Everyone is gonna run away ♪
1676
01:19:27,763 --> 01:19:32,134
♪ And the creeks won't
flow to the lake below ♪
1677
01:19:32,134 --> 01:19:33,850
♪ Will the water in the world ♪
1678
01:19:33,850 --> 01:19:38,690
♪ Still be okay ♪
1679
01:19:38,690 --> 01:19:43,311
♪ If they blow a hole back bone ♪
1680
01:19:43,311 --> 01:19:48,311
♪ The one that run across
the muscle of the land ♪
1681
01:19:48,401 --> 01:19:53,012
♪ Oh we might get a low
storm for the road, ♪
1682
01:19:53,012 --> 01:19:58,012
♪ But I don't know how
much longer we can stand ♪
1683
01:20:00,261 --> 01:20:05,261
♪ We'll need to bear some new car ♪
1684
01:20:08,752 --> 01:20:13,752
♪ And I know we gonna have ♪
1685
01:20:13,778 --> 01:20:17,898
♪ to fix the road ♪
1686
01:20:17,898 --> 01:20:20,986
♪ But if we blow ♪
1687
01:20:20,986 --> 01:20:25,986
♪ another hole in sky ♪
1688
01:20:27,835 --> 01:20:32,212
♪ The wild ones won't have ♪
1689
01:20:32,212 --> 01:20:34,962
♪ anywhere to go ♪
1690
01:20:46,346 --> 01:20:51,346
♪ If they blow a hole in my backyard ♪
1691
01:20:51,466 --> 01:20:55,753
♪ Everyone is gonna run away ♪
1692
01:20:55,753 --> 01:21:00,258
♪ And the creeks won't
flow to the lake below ♪
1693
01:21:00,258 --> 01:21:05,258
♪ Will the water in the
well still get a care ♪
1694
01:21:07,716 --> 01:21:11,978
♪ We'll keep driving ♪
1695
01:21:11,978 --> 01:21:16,164
♪ on the blind line ♪
1696
01:21:16,164 --> 01:21:19,658
♪ If we don't know ♪
1697
01:21:19,658 --> 01:21:24,658
♪ where we wanna go ♪
1698
01:21:25,567 --> 01:21:30,501
♪ Even now it's just sound ♪
1699
01:21:30,501 --> 01:21:35,501
♪ Can get water down ♪
1700
01:21:36,024 --> 01:21:39,470
♪ Truth get tossed out down ♪
1701
01:21:39,470 --> 01:21:44,470
♪ the car window ♪
1702
01:21:45,440 --> 01:21:50,440
♪ Truth get tossed out the car window ♪
1703
01:21:54,803 --> 01:21:59,475
♪ Choose that water ♪
1704
01:21:59,475 --> 01:22:04,475
♪ Until we really need the sun ♪
1705
01:22:06,141 --> 01:22:11,141
♪ shower soil and sea ♪
1706
01:22:13,407 --> 01:22:17,848
♪ Choose that water ♪
1707
01:22:17,848 --> 01:22:21,923
♪ The aquaforce provide ♪
1708
01:22:21,923 --> 01:22:25,340
♪ Deep down in the rock ♪
128321
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