The Buzz
LATITUDE
FORT HILLS PROJECT STARTS PRODUCTION AND BEGINS RAMPING UP After numerous delays, Suncor’s Fort Hills oil sands project has begun production and should reach 90 per cent capacity by the end of the year. Located 90 km north of Fort McMurray, Fort Hills has a maximum capacity of 194,000 barrels per day, making it one of the region’s largest oil sands operations. The project is also one of the longest in the making. After being shelved for five years in reaction to the 2008 downturn, construction was green-lit in 2013. But then it was delayed because of the Fort McMurray wildfire and complications in the commissioning of a sec- ondary extraction facility. When the mine is fully operational, it will create about 1,600 jobs. It’s expected lifespan is 50 years.
BOWDEN REFINERY GETS A SECOND ACT—AS A RE-REFINERY It’s a re-refinery in two different ways. First, because the Bowden Refinery is getting a new lease on life. And second, because its job will be to re-refine used oil from industry. Energy company Gen III Oil Corp. has announced plans that will return to duty the neglected refinery near the town, located about 45 kilometres south of Red Deer. After sitting idle for 17 years, the refinery could resume activity as soon as the first quarter of 2019, with construction slated to start this summer. Once the $90-million project is complete, the redeveloped facility will become the first re-refinery in the Prairies and process about 2,800 barrels per day.
BABY BLATCHFORD STEPS TAKEN ON OLD AIRPORT LANDS After lengthy delays— including a year-long hiatus—redevelopment of the 500-plus-acre Blatchford district in north Edmonton is nearing the first phase of housing construction. In 2017, the city installed more than eight kilometres of water, drainage, and thermal heating pipeline under the old airport lands, as well as the community’s first paved road. The city is now selecting from among about 60 housing developers and hopes to start construction in the summer.
MEANWHILE, IN FUTURE BLATCHFORD It doesn’t look like this yet, but the Blatchford District is slowly taking shape on the old airport lands in Edmonton. -artist’s rending courtesy the City of Edmonton
44 | PEG SPRING 2018
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