Oil investors pass on oilsands H2O
« Our whole tradition and way of life is in jeopardy.»
Chipewyan community member Lionel LepineTainted water from a lake near Fort Chipewyan and from the Athabasca River, was offered to international investors and members of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers by environmental protestors yesterday at the Calgary Hyatt Hotel.
“We’re here to tell the investing community that if they’re investing in the oilsands, they’re investing in something that comes with an increasing price tag,” said Mike Hudema from Greenpeace Canada.
Lionel Lepine from the Chipewyan aboriginal community said even the kids are wary about swimming in the lake and eating fowl or fish from the area which could be contaminated with arsenic and mercury due to oil sand production.
“Our whole tradition and way of life is in jeopardy,” Lepine said.
But Ross Levin, an investor from New York who came out to see what was going on, said while there are real environmental issues, he’s not sure it would be economically wise to immediately halt oil sands production.
“If environmental activists … want to change the system, they will have to bear the economic consequences,” he said.
Pierre Alvarez, president of the association, said that there are regulations in place to minimize impact of the oilsands projects.
As for the water, he said he “would have no hesitation drinking (treated) water from any municipality anywhere in the province.”
