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Open Image ModalSyncrude's Mildred Lake Upgrader, part of The Syncrude Project complex for oil sands processing, is pictured Monday, March 8, 2006 in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalThe Syncrude oil sands extraction facility is reflected in a lake reclaimed from an old mine near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada on October 22, 2009. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalA disused mining machine on display in front of the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta on October 22, 2009. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalThe Suncor oilsands operation uses trucks that are 3 stories tall, weigh one million pounds, and cost 7 million dollars each. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalOil sits on the surface at a Suncor Energy Inc. oilsands mining operation near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013. Photographer: (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalA large oil refinery along the Athabasca River in Alberta's Oilsands. Fort McMurray, Alberta. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalOil mixes with water at a tailings pond at a Suncor Energy Inc. oilsands mining operation near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalFort McMurray is in the heart of the world's biggest single oil deposit - the Athabasca Oil Sands, and the oil is extracted by surface mining and refined in the region. The oil production is at the heart of the economy. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalIn this Aug. 5, 2005 file photo, the Syncrude upgrader spreads out towards the horizon at the company's oil sands project in Ft. McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)
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Open Image ModalThis Tuesday, July 10, 2012 aerial photo shows a Nexen oil sands facility near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)
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Open Image ModalThis Sept. 19, 2011 aerial photo shows an oilsands facility near Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)
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Open Image ModalThis Sept. 19, 2011 aerial photo shows an oilsands tailings pond at a mine facility near Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)
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Open Image ModalThis Sept. 19, 2011 aerial photo shows an oilsands tailings pond at a mine facility near Fort McMurray, in Alberta, Canada. (credit:AP)
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Open Image ModalThe Syncrude extraction facility in the northern Alberta oil sand fields is reflected in the pool of water being recycled for re-use. (credit:Getty Images)
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Open Image ModalA night view of the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta Province, Canada on October 22, 2009. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalAerial view of a lake and forests in the vicinity of oil sands extraction facilities near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada on October 23, 2009. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalWorkers use heavy machinery in the tailings pond at the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta , Canada on October 25, 2009. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalFort McMurray is in the heart of the world's biggest single oil deposit - the Athabasca Oil Sands, and the oil is extracted by surface mining and refined in the region. The oil production is at the heart of the economy. (credit:Getty)
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Open Image ModalA large oil refinery in Alberta's Oilsands project. Fort McMurray, Alberta. (credit:Getty)
CFB Cold Lake, CNRL(20 of44)
Open Image ModalA bitumen leak was reported at a Canadian Natural Resources oilsands operation in the weapons range part of the RCAF base in June 2013. (credit:WikiMedia:)
CFB Cold Lake, CNRL(21 of44)
Open Image ModalCompany officials said the leak - at what it calls its Primrose operation - was caused by faulty machinery at one of the wells, affected an area of approximately 13.5 hectares and released as much as 3,200 litres of bitumen each day. (credit:Getty)
CFB Cold Lake, CNRL(22 of44)
Open Image ModalPreliminary tallies put the death toll from the leak at 16 birds, seven small mammals and 38 amphibians. Dozen were rescued and taken to an Edmonton centre for rehabilitation. (credit:Shutterstock)
CFB Cold Lake(23 of44)
Open Image ModalAs of early August 2013, more than 1.1 million litres of bitumen had been pulled from marshlands, bushes and waterways. (credit:Getty)
CFB Cold Lake, CNRL(24 of44)
Open Image ModalAlthough CNRL could not say when the leak may finally be stopped, it estimates it will likely cost more than $40 million to clean up. (credit:Getty)
Plains Midstream(25 of44)
Open Image ModalLittle Buffalo band member Melina Laboucan-Massimo scoops up July 13, 2012 what appears to oil from the pond shoreline near the site of a 4.5 million-litre Plains Midstream pipeline leak detected April 29, 2011. Photos taken at the site and released by Greenpeace of Alberta's second-worst pipeline spill suggest at least part of the site remains heavily contaminated despite company suggestions that the cleanup is complete. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Greenpeace-Joe Whittle)
Plains Midstream Canada(26 of44)
Open Image ModalA boat passes by a boom stretching out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(27 of44)
Open Image ModalDebris pushes up against a boom as it stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(28 of44)
Open Image Modal A boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream(29 of44)
Open Image ModalA boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(30 of44)
Open Image ModalA photographer snaps a boom stretching out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(31 of44)
Open Image ModalA boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(32 of44)
Open Image ModalA worker slows traffic while a boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the Gleniffer reservoir near Innisfail, Alta., Tuesday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(33 of44)
Open Image ModalA no swimming sign along the banks of the Gleniffer reservoir while a boom stretches out to contain a pipeline leak on the lake near Innisfail, Alta., Friday, June 12, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of sour crude near Sundre, Alberta, on June 7 and flowed downstream in the Red Deer river to the reservoir. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(34 of44)
Open Image ModalOil from a pipeline leak coats a pond near Sundre, Alta., Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipeline leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(35 of44)
Open Image ModalOil from a pipeline leak coats a pond near Sundre, Alta., Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipeline leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(36 of44)
Open Image ModalOil from a pipeline leak coats a pond near Sundre, Alta., Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipeline leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Plains Midstream Canada(37 of44)
Open Image ModalTracks pass through oil on the banks of the Gleniffer reservoir after a pipeline leak near Sundre, Alta., on Friday, June 8, 2012. Plains Midstream Canada says one of their non-functioning pipelines leaked between 1,000-3,000 barrels of oil. (credit:THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
Enbrige's Athabasca pipeline(38 of44)
Open Image ModalApproximately 1,450 barrels of oil spilled from a pumping station along Enbridge’s Athabasca pipeline in June 2012.The spill occurred approximately 24 kilometres from Elk Point, Alta., a village located 200 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. (credit:(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Larry MacDougal))
Lake Wabamun(39 of44)
Open Image ModalWreckage from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill is seen lining the shore of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))
Lake Wabamun(40 of44)
Open Image ModalWreckage and black oil from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill are seen lining the shore and waters of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))
Lake Wabamun(41 of44)
Open Image ModalWhite absorbent boom is seen lining the shores of Lake Wabamun, Alberta, as the clean-up effort from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill continues on Monday, August 8, 2005. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))
Lake Wabamun(42 of44)
Open Image ModalWreckage and black oil from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill are seen lining the shore and waters of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))
Lake Wabamun(43 of44)
Open Image ModalWreckage and black oil from the August 3rd train derailment and subsequent oil spill are seen lining the shore and waters of Lake Wabamun on Monday, August 8, 2005, as clean-up continues. Lake Wabamun was severely polluted when a train carrying heavy oil derailed on August 3, 2005, spilling much of it's load into the lake. (credit:(CP PHOTO - Tim Smith))
Lake Wabamun(44 of44)
Open Image ModalRail cars leak bunker fuel oil, meters from summer homes bordering Lake Wabamun, after a freight train derailed, in this August 3, 2005 file photo, near the town of Wabamun, Alta. Canadian National Railway faces an environmental charge stemming from the train derailment and oil spill at a popular Alberta lake last summer. (credit:(CP PICTURE ARCHIVE/ John Ulan))