"A reminder, you toad: the topic =
U.S. ambassador in Alberta to learn about oilsands "
Precisely, AnnaG.
I responded to a picture presented as the total destruction of the environment by the Oil Sands Project.
I simply pointed out that the damage caused in Alberta is dwarfed by the damage caused by Nature in the two examples I mentioned. Yet, a couple of years later, you would not have known that there ever was a disaster.
So, my point was that while the oil sands projects may cause temporary damage, nature is more than capable of fixing it. Alberta, Washington or Indonesia.
No need to worry, unless you are Al Gore or a blinf acolyte.
That's fine, Jack, but does man really need to add to nature's deeds? No.
Toad, just for your information as you mentioned open pit mines, they do NOT approach anywhere near the area of the sands as you suggested, and there are 8 of them:
8 operating open pit mines in BC:
Iron Concentrates Ops
Huckleberry
Mount Polley
Kemess
Gibraltar
Teck Cominco
Highland Valley
Endako
The area of each is measured in hectares, not square kilometers as is the tar sands.
BC is 944,735 sq km (364,800 sq mi)
Brenda Mine was closed and was 914 meters in diameter with a 87 hectare tailings pond. It was reclaimed after it closed down.
The largest of them is the Highland Valley mine near Kamloops and is composed of a few open pits, each smaller than the Brenda mine.