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What was once a tailings pond is now a scenic lookout

Alberta - October 22, 2017

Fifty years after its opening, Alberta’s first oil sands tailings pond is now the province’s first reclaimed tailings pond—a big deal for a big parcel of land. The 220-hectare site has gone from an industrial watery-basin to a landscape rife with young trees, bushes, and wildlife, and is now known as the Wapisiw Lookout. Even the name “Wapisiw,” which means “swan,” has significance as it comes from the Cree people who were the first to introduce bitumen to European traders.

To learn more about this environmental milestone, read the JWN story, What the first reclaimed oilsands tailings pond looks like after seven years of growth.

Resource Editor