It appears that a series of spills at an oil-sands site in Alberta is worse that first reported.
The Wall Street Journal says that Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has raised the amount of oil released from an uncontained site to nearly 6,000 barrels of heavy crude.
That far exceeds the 175 barrels first reported, and the volume continues to increase.
AER, the Alberta Energy Regulator, on Saturday changed the status of the incident from “over” to “ongoing,” raising the reported volume from four separate leaks to a total of 5,975 barrels–up almost 1,500 barrels from a week earlier.
Canadian Natural Resources Ltd, which is based in Calgary, has not confirmed any of the figures and has said little about the problem. Last week in a statement, it blamed “mechanical failures of wellbores in the vicinity of the impacted areas.” Wellbores are holes drilled to explore for or recover oil.
The contamination, which was first reported in May, has affected about 40 hectares on the grounds Canadian Forces Base Suffield, a giant military facility.
Provincial officials say the leaks pose no threat to people. However the leaks have contaminated vegetation and killed some wildlife, including birds, beavers and frogs.
Critics say Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.’s failure to stop the leaks raises questions about the 30-year-old technology it uses to access heavy trapped in subterranean oil-sands deposits.
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