The History of Oil Sands Development in Alberta – The Bitumount Site Presented by: David O’Laney and Dorothy Field Heritage Division, Alberta Culture w/introduction by David Spink

Introduction - Early Timelines Quarry of the Ancestors 48 km N of Fort McMurray and Spear Point (7300 to 7800 BC)

Early Timelines Fur Trading (1700s to Present)

Oil Sands (Background and Early History)* Cree trapper brings a sample of oil sands to Hudson’s Bay Trading post at York Factory, Manitoba 1778 – North West Company trader Peter Pond sees oil sands deposits near Fort McMurray 1790 – Alexander MacKenzie (another North West Company explorer) reports “bituminous fountains” on the Athabasca River 1819 & 1848 – Sir John Richardson passed through the area and he noted some of the geological properties of the deposit – Geological Survey of Canada sent geologists to study the deposits (they noted that the bitumen could separated from the sand by water) * From “The Oil Sands: Canada’s Path to Clean Energy?” by Gordon Kelly (ISBN )

Honourable David Laird explaining terms of Treaty #8, Fort Vermilion, 1899 – Treaty Signed June 21, 1899 By Canada - Glenbow Museum [1], Public Domain,

First Nations in the Oil Sands Regions First Nation and Metis archive/100/205/301/ic/cdc/ eaty8_map.html

The Bitumount Project – Dorothy Field Dorothy highlighted some of the information available on Alberta Culture and Tourism’s Website regarding the history of oil sands development and the Bitumount Historical Site This information is available at the following URL addresses (the general webpage) x (the Bitumount webpage) x

Historic Bitumount – Today David O’Laney

Designated as a Provincial Historic site in 1974 The site is currently closed to the public. The site requires significant environmental remediation (asbestos, lead, mercury contamination) and conservation work before the site will be open to the public. This work is currently ongoing…

Environmental Remediation and Heritage Conservation work at Bitumount Environmental Remediation – A Risk Management Approach – Open pit mine – Tailings ponds – Asbestos, lead and mercury abatement – Soil and air quality monitoring Heritage Conservation Conserving the historic fabric on-site – Built heritage – Landscape heritage – Artifacts: The Golden Slipper

Bitumount – Open pit mine The southern portion of Bitumount consists of an open pit mine that requires environmental remediation. This work is currently in the planning stages and constitutes part of the Risk Management Plan.

The Lab and Office Building The majority of buildings at Bitumount were not built with longevity in mind. The cost of materials and transport to the site was enormous. As a result, the majority of buildings on site are on simple wood foundations that have or are in the process of collapse.

The Bunkhouse An example of a building that has collapsed in recent years. Before this building can be removed from site (with the environmental hazards therein), the building requires heritage documentation. Unfortunately, It is not economically feasible to ‘save’ all the buildings at the site.

Heritage Documentation The Assembly of a Heritage Record Report for each individual building: Information is compiled into a bound Heritage Record Extant Report containing: 1. A written record including location map and site information 2. A photographic record including detailed photographic description sheets, general photographic information, photographic key symbols, photographic key plans and table of contents. 3. A graphic record including a list of Heritage Extant Record Drawings, and a list of all Field Notes recorded.

The Fitzsimmons Cabin Asbestos, mercury and lead testing was completed in this building in It was found to have moderate levels of each environmental hazard. As this building remains in fair condition, it will remediated in-situ and mothballed so it may be conserved at a later date.

The Machine Shop/Warehouse Building One of the few wood buildings on-site that received a concrete foundation (due to the weight of the machinery once housed in the building). As a result, this building is better condition than most, will be remediated in-situ, mothballed, and conserved at a later date.

Staff Houses These small structures once housed site manager’s (and when possible, their families). The house in the best condition will be environmentally remediated in-situ, so that it can be mothballed and eventually conserved. The remaining staff houses will be collapsed and removed from site.

Historic Artifacts - The Golden Slipper

Threats to the site One of the main historic challenges to Bitumount was it’s isolation. With the recent development of Suncor’s Fort Hills Site, this has changed significantly in the past few years. Trespassing and vandalism is now an ongoing concern at the site.