Syncrude employees and families lend a hand in tree planting

(Fort McMurray, Alberta) – On Saturday, August 28th, around 100 Syncrude employees and their families will participate in planting tree seedlings on land reclaimed from mining operations. The Seed the Future event is being held to provide employees with an opportunity to see how land is reclaimed at Syncrude and the progress being made.

Syncrude has been conducting reclamation research since 1971 and this year commemorates the planting of the three millionth tree on reclaimed land. Last year, Syncrude planted over 315,000 tree and shrub seedlings and, to date, over 3,400 hectares of land has been permanently reclaimed. About $10 million is invested each year on reclamation research and field activities.

“The interest and feedback we received on this initiative was outstanding,” says Jim Carter, Syncrude President and Chief Operating Officer. “Much of our reclamation occurs far from the road side, so this event gives our employees and contractors the opportunity to bring their families out to see the great reclamation progress, while also taking part in helping to reclaim the land themselves.”

In addition to planting, participants will tour a wetland reclamation area and learn about Syncrude’s industry-leading research into instrumented watersheds, which examines the interactions occurring on a reclaimed landscape ? from hydrogeology to surface water quality to soil performance.

Around 200 seedlings are expected to be planted during the day, each marked with a tag identifying the family who planted the tree. As well, gifts of seedlings will be handed out to each family to take home and plant.

Syncrude is committed to ensuring land disturbed by mining is returned to a condition that will support self-sustaining communities of plants and animals. Their vision is to create a diverse landscape that meets the land-use needs of stakeholders, including commercial bison operations to forestry to traditional and recreational uses.

Joint Venture Ownership
The Syncrude Project is a joint venture operated by Syncrude Canada Ltd. and owned by Canadian Oil Sands Limited, ConocoPhillips Oilsands Partnership II, Imperial Oil Resources, Mocal Energy Limited, Murphy Oil Company Ltd., Nexen Inc., and Petro-Canada Oil and Gas.

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