Alberta Tar Sands The True Price of Petroleum by Garth Lenz, April 30,2011

Disguised by the beauty of a reflection, these toxic tailings ponds are a considerable health risk. These vast toxic lakes are completely unlined and nearly a dozen of them lie on either side of the Athabasca River. Each day, enough of this toxic sludge is produced to fill 720 Olympic sized pools. Toxins leak into the Athabasca from Suncor’s, now “reclaimed” Tar Island pond, at a rate of one million gallons per day, the equivalent of about two Olympic-sized pools. Photograph © Garth Lenz

Alberta Tar Sands The True Price of Petroleum

by Garth Lenz, Fellow, International League of Conservation Photographers, April 30, 2011