总理马克·卡尼最近决定加快新建通往西海岸的石油输出管道的建设，这为渥太华最终决定如何处理长期困扰阿尔伯塔北部油砂的环境问题增添了紧迫性 — — 如何处理尾矿池。该地区的石油产量将增长，阿尔伯塔政府希望将原油产量翻倍。
The recent decision by Prime Minister Mark Carney to fast-track a new oil export pipeline to the West Coast is adding urgency for Ottawa to finally decide what to do with a long-standing environmental issue plaguing the oilsands in Northern Alberta — what to do with tailings ponds. Oil output in the region is set to grow and the Alberta government wants to double the amount of crude production.
然而，自大约60年前建成第一座油砂矿以来，该行业一直被禁止排放任何水。因此，该地区遍布的大型尾矿池充满了数十年的工业采矿废水。这种液体具有毒性，对野生动物有害。该地区的居民除了担心对环境的影响外，还担心其有害的健康影响。
Yet, ever since the first oilsands mine was built about 60 years ago, the industry has been banned from releasing any water. As a result, large tailings ponds throughout the region are filled with decades worth of industrial mining wastewater. The fluid is toxic and harmful to wildlife. For those who live in the region, they fear the harmful health effects, in addition to the impact on the environment.
整天、每天、每隔几秒钟，空气炮就在尾矿池边缘轰鸣，以帮助驱赶鸟类、鸭子和其他野生动物远离水域，此外还有数十个穿着工装裤和安全帽的临时稻草人。
All day, every day, every few seconds, air cannons blast on the edge of the tailings ponds to help deter birds, ducks and other wildlife from the water, in addition to dozens of makeshift scarecrows dressed in overalls and hard hats.
问题的规模相当于60万个奥林匹克标准游泳池的体积，或蒙特利尔岛在三米深的水下的面积。
The problem is as big as 600,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools or the area of the Island of Montreal under three metres of water.
根据阿尔伯塔能源监管局的数据，自2014年至2024年十年间增加了50%，尾矿液体的量仍在持续增加。
The amount of tailings fluid continues to increase after growing by 50 per cent over a 10-year period from 2014 to 2024, according to the Alberta Energy Regulator.
随着尾矿池逐渐填满，行业正急切地推动政府制定法规，允许对这种液体进行处理后再排放。与此同时，一些原住民领袖呼吁在该问题得到妥善解决之前，放缓油砂的生产。
As tailings ponds fill up, the industry is urgently pushing for government regulations allowing for the fluid to be treated and then released. At the same time, some Indigenous leaders are calling for oilsands production to slow down until this issue is properly resolved.
阿尔伯塔省环境部长格兰特·亨特在接受CBC新闻在福特麦克默里采访时表示，尾矿池已经达到容量上限，没有人希望再建更多的储存湖泊。
Tailings ponds are at capacity and no one wants more of the storage lakes built, said Alberta's Environment Minister Grant Hunter, in an interview with CBC News in Fort McMurray.
“解决方案不是什么都不做，把头埋进沙子里。解决方案是真正验证科学，”他说。”我们不能对行业说'我们希望你们将产量翻倍'，然后却不给他们能够进行正确处理和释放的工具。”阿尔伯塔省的提案到今年年底，阿尔伯塔省政府计划明确规定水体释放必须达到的具体质量标准。然而，这些水道属于联邦管辖范围，因此是否采纳这些拟议法规、提出修改建议或维持禁令，将由渥太华决定。
"The solution isn't just to keep doing nothing and put our head in the sand. The solution is to actually prove out the science," he said. "We cannot say to industry, 'we want you to double production,' and then not give them the tools to be able to do proper treat-and-release." Alberta's proposal By the end of the year, the Alberta government plans to lay out exactly what quality standards have to be met for water to be released. Still, the waterways fall under federal jurisdiction, so it will be up to Ottawa to adopt those proposed regulations, suggest changes or keep the ban in place.
公司坚称他们拥有处理尾矿水的技术和专业知识。他们只需要法规来明确必须达到的水质标准。公司表示，除非尾矿池得到处理，否则他们永远无法正确清理大片土地。
Companies insist they have the technology and expertise to treat tailings water. They just need the regulations to know what water quality standards have to be reached. Companies say they will never be able to properly clean up large amounts of land until the tailings ponds are addressed.
阿尔伯塔省油砂地区的市长和原住民首领对西海岸管道指定持保守态度。“处理和释放对于实现这些设施的大规模复垦至关重要，”桑克能源公司副总裁克莱尔·格林伍德在最近于福特麦克默里举行的能源会议上表示。
Mayors, First Nations chiefs in Alberta's oilsands region react tentatively to West Coast pipeline designation "Treating and release is really critical to enabling the large-scale reclamation of these facilities," said Claire Greenwood, a vice-president with Suncor Energy, while speaking at a recent energy conference in Fort McMurray.
“这些尾矿设施本来就不是该地区景观的永久组成部分。我们完全有意真正将这些尾矿池转变为复垦场地。因此，我们才在寻求这种处理和释放。”该公司拒绝了CBC新闻的采访请求，也不提供靠近福特麦克默里的水处理演示设施的访问权限。
"These tailings facilities are not meant to be permanent parts of the landscape in the region. We have full intention of actually turning those tailings ponds into reclaimed sites.
如果允许处理和释放，该水将被抽入阿萨巴斯卡河，该河从福特麦克默里和油砂地区直接向北流动，途经多个原住民社区，最终汇入西北地区和北极海洋。
And so that's why we're looking for that treatment release." The company rejected interview requests from CBC News and would not provide access to a water treatment demonstration facility near Fort McMurray.
对莱尼·汉森来说，阿萨巴斯卡河一直是他生命中不可或缺的一部分——从小在麦克默里堡长大起，他就经常在这里捕鱼（比如梭鱼、北方梭鱼等），同时也会经常看到河岸附近的野生动物，如熊、麋鹿和鹅。
If treat-and-release is allowed, the water would be pumped into the Athabasca River, which flows directly north from Fort McMurray and the oilsands region to several Indigenous communities before the water eventually drains into the Northwest Territories and the Arctic Ocean.
他曾在油砂开采行业工作了33年；退休后，他成为了一名导游，用船带领游客游览这条河流。
For Lenny Hansen, the Athabasca River has always been a part of his life, since he was a kid growing up in Fort McMurray.
对于“处理后直接将废水排放回河流”的做法，汉森并不反对。他说：“我认为这是个很好的主意，我也亲眼见过他们是如何操作的；整个处理过程确实非常有效。”
He's caught walleye, northern pike and other fish, with frequent sightings of other wildlife near the banks such as bears, moose and geese. For 33 years, he worked in the oilsands. In retirement, he's a tour guide taking visitors up the river in his boat.
阿尔伯塔省的油砂开采企业原定于10月11日就有毒尾矿池的处理方案做出最终决定。然而，这种处理方式已经引起了部分原住民领袖及其社区的强烈不满。
For him, treat-and-release is not a concern. "I think it's a great idea and I've seen what they do. I think it's a really good process," said Hansen, a member of the Fort McMurray Métis District 17.
上个月，森科尔能源公司（Suncor Energy）的代表前往麦克默里堡北部的奇佩维扬（Fort Chipewyan）地区，本希望向当地居民展示他们的废水处理技术，但却在遭到抗议者阻拦后迅速离开了现场。
Alberta oilsands push for a decision on toxic tailings ponds October 11 Duration Frustrations growing Treating and releasing tailings pond water into the Athabasca River has alarmed some Indigenous leaders and their communities.
梅洛迪·莱皮恩（Melody Lepine）女士是居住在奇佩维扬地区的米基塞乌克里族（Mikisew Cree First Nation, MCFN）的领袖。她认为省政府正在强迫她的社区接受这种废水处理方案——尤其是在联邦政府和省政府去年夏天签署相关协议之后。
When representatives from Suncor Energy visited Fort Chipewyan last month, they hoped to demonstrate to the community how their treatment technology worked. Instead, they quickly left when they were greeted by protesters. Chief Melody Lepine leads the Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN), which is based in the Fort Chipewyan region, north of Fort McMurray.
莱皮恩表示，居民们的抗议源于一种“自己的诉求被忽视”的感受；如果他们认为这种处理方式会对奇佩维扬地区造成威胁，她的族群将会考虑采取法律行动。她说：“这已经不是第一次了——过去总有一些决策被强行推行，而我们却不得不事后承担由此带来的后果。”“我们肯定会认真考虑所有能够扭转这些决策和行为的办法。”
She feels the provincial government is forcing her community to accept treat-and-release, especially after the federal and provincial governments signed their MOU this past summer. Lepine said the protest against Suncor came from a feeling among residents that their concerns are being ignored. She said her First Nation would consider legal action if her community felt treat-and-release threatened Fort Chipewyan.
针对“环境种族主义”问题：Fort Chipewyan的居民正在抗议该地区提出的尾矿水处理后直接排放的计划。该地区至少有一家由原住民主导的公司希望找到替代方案。Tũ Nipi Water Solutions公司最近获得了省政府提供的460万美元的资助，用于研究其他尾矿处理方案。
"This is not the first time where things have been forced, in terms of decisions made that impact us, that we have to deal with the consequences later," she said. "Exploring all of the options of how to reverse those decisions and activities would be definitely something we would seriously consider." ‘Environmental racism’: Fort Chipewyan residents protest proposed treat-and-release plan for tailings water At least one Indigenous-led company in the region hopes to find an alternative.
该公司首席执行官Ron Quintal表示，他们希望找到能够对尾矿水进行处理并加以再利用（而非直接排放）的技术。他认为，原住民之所以反对这种处理方式，是因为与水资源相关的“代际创伤”（即历史上因水资源问题造成的长期负面影响）。
Tũ Nipi Water Solutions was recently given conditional approval of a $4.6 million provincial grant to begin researching other proposals for treating tailings. The company's CEO, Ron Quintal, hopes to find technology that can treat and reuse — not release — tailings water. He says the fear behind treat-and-release among Indigenous people is because of "generational trauma" associated with water.
有人担心，油砂开采带来的污染已经渗入当地水体，导致Fort Chipewyan地区的癌症发病率上升。例如，2023年Imperial Oil公司的Kearl Lake设施曾泄漏了520万升尾矿废水。
There are fears that contamination from the oilsands has made its way into waterbodies and contributed to cancers in Fort Chipewyan, for instance. Lepine points to the 5.2 million litres of oilsands wastewater that overflowed from Imperial Oil's Kearl Lake facility in 2023.
Quintal说：“我们社区的人并不饮用当地的水，这正是源于那种‘代际创伤’。”他还曾担任Fort McKay Métis Nation的主席。
"We don't drink the water in the community and that's going back to that generational trauma," said Quintal, who is also the former president of Fort McKay Métis Nation.
“我的管理层和我的社区绝不可能支持这种‘处理后直接排放’的做法，”Quintal强调道，并称关于这一问题的争论非常激烈。
"Treat-and-release is not something that my ownership, my leadership and my community could ever support," he said, describing debate about the issue as "white hot."
阿尔伯塔省的分离主义组织发布了一份报告，提倡通过经济可行的方式实现独立；在经历了长达十年的悲观情绪后，Fort McMurray地区正准备迎来新的发展机遇。Lepine也希望行业界和各级政府能积极探索其他处理尾矿水的方案。她表示，只有当相关技术能够确保不会危害人类健康或环境时，Fort McKay Métis Nation才会接受这种处理方式。
Alberta separation group releases report touting affordable transition to independence After 'doom and gloom' decade, Fort McMurray readies for a boom Lepine also wants to see industry groups and different levels of government pursue alternatives to treat-and-release. She says the only way MCFN would accept treat-and-release is if leadership are confident the technology will not harm human health or the environment.
“但目前，我们距离实现这一目标还非常遥远，”Lepine说道。
"But we're nowhere near that today," she said. "It is a situation of environmental racism.
“这其实是一种‘环境种族主义’的表现。我们常常会想：如果河流的流向与非原住民社区相反，情况还会是这样吗？”人们正在向渥太华施压，要求其采取行动。相关行业人士表示，他们已经花费了数年时间研发并测试了多种废水处理技术，并且一直在支持该地区的持续水质监测项目。
We often say if the rivers flew in the opposite direction to non-Indigenous communities, would things be like this?" Pressure on Ottawa to act Industry players say they have spent several years developing and testing various technologies to treat the wastewater, in addition to supporting ongoing water monitoring programs in the region.
“综合来看，这些技术确实有效、对环境无害，并且能够带来长期性的改善效果，”帝国石油公司的可持续发展经理杰西卡·迪拉鲍（Jessica Dillabough）说道。
"If we take these elements together, we think that gives confidence that a treatment technology is effective, environmentally protective and capable of building, delivering long term results," said Jessica Dillabough, a sustainability manager with Imperial Oil.
目前，该行业正在测试多种化学和生物方法来处理尾矿废水并去除其中的污染物。各大石油公司都与大学科学家合作，共同开展了数十项关于油砂地区水资源和尾矿处理的研究项目。
The industry is testing various chemical and biological methods of treating tailings water and filtering out contaminants. Major oil companies have partnered with university scientists on dozens of research projects focused on water and tailings in the oilsands.
虽然排放油砂尾矿废水的行为已被禁止了几十年，但现在这一禁令似乎即将被解除。目前，渥太华方面对下一步行动保持沉默：联邦环境部长拒绝了CBC新闻的采访请求，其发言人也没有提供任何关于决策时间表的信息。
Banned for decades, releasing oilsands tailings water is now on the horizon For now, Ottawa is tight-lipped about its next move. The federal environment minister declined interview requests from CBC News and a spokesperson wouldn't provide any timeline on a decision.
上个月，联邦自然资源部长蒂姆·霍奇森（Tim Hodgson）在阿尔伯塔省的一场新闻发布会上被问及尾矿池问题时回答说：“我们会制定相应的法规来规范尾矿池的管理。”霍奇森表示，这些法规将在2027年底前完成制定。然而，当天晚些时候，他的发言人向CBC新闻澄清称，霍奇森的表述有误，实际上并没有具体的时间表。
Last month, federal Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson answered a question from Radio-Canada during a press conference in Alberta about tailings ponds, remarking "We will do the work to make sure we have the right regulations with respect to tailings ponds." Hodgson said the regulations would be developed by the end of 2027. However, later that day, his spokesperson said to CBC News that the minister had misspoken and there is no timeline.