"New Database Shows Oilsands Pollution Slow, Steady Drip: Scientist"

"EDMONTON - A new database that compiles thousands of government and industry records on Alberta's oilsands lays out in painstaking detail how the industry is a constant source of low-level pollution to the area's land, air and water, says the scientist who pulled it all together.

And Kevin Timoney, who plans to release the vast information trove publicly on Friday, say the records suggest the province isn't doing enough to enforce environmental regulations.

"You start to see hundreds and hundreds of fairly serious (emissions) well above the regulated guidelines and nothing's done," said Timoney, an ecology consultant who has been an oilsands critic in the past.

"You go and look at the next month and nothing's done. The same pattern continues month in, month out, year in, year out."

Timoney spent the last eight months compiling the records from provincial and federal government libraries covering the period from the mid-1990s to 2008. The records include regular industry reports, industry self-reporting on specific incidents, public reporting of suspected incidents, and federal data."

Bob Weber reports for the Canadian Press July 29, 2010.