Innovation Anthology #356:
When it comes to oil sands reclamation, Syncrude is looking to mother nature to lend a hand.
Agrologist Eric Girard is the man in charge of bio-engineering at Syncrude’s oil sands site in northern Alberta.
And making sure cuttings from aspen and willow take root is not without its challenges.
According to Eric Girard, cuttings are harvested from the surrounding forest in fall. They’re dipped in white paint to help preserve their moisture content.
And then, there’s the matter of digging those trenches to plant the cuttings.
ERIC GIRARD: We do all the harvesting by hand and we do all the placing by hand as well. So we have to go there with shovels, dig all those trenches and then put the faccines in those trenches. So I was telling you those faccines are just bundles of sticks. So we have to fill in between those sticks with peat. So we have to use our fingers to push the peat in between. It’s quite labour intensive.
Eric Girard amends the soil with organic fertilizer and peat moss to give the cuttings a bit of a boost. By the second year, the bushes are securely matted to stop erosion.
And soon the bioengineered hill looks completely natural.
Thanks today to Syncrude Canada Ltd.
FOR INNOVATION ANTHOLOGY
I’M CHERYL CROUCHER
Guest
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Sponsor
Syncrude
Program Date: 2010-11-25