Dr. Raymond Turner holds a beaker of grey-coloured tailings pond sludge from the Alberta oilsands up to the light.
Inside is a concentrated cocktail of organic toxins and heavy metals, unwelcome leftovers from one the largest bitumen-extraction operations in the world. One day, Turner hopes science will find a way to turn it into something you can drink.
"I'd like to see it get to the stage where I'm willing to drink this," said Turner, hoisting the beaker like a bottle of beer.
Now researchers at the University of Calgary are reporting they've made progress on a new method for cleaning toxins from oilsands operations.
Turner co-led a team which has grown collections of microbes called biofilms able to break down the organic toxins and heavy metals found in tailings ponds. The tiny microbes are naturally occur-ring within the tailings ponds, thriving in the chemical and pollutant rich environment.
Ultimately researchers hope to deploy the biofilms in tailings water treatment plants to be used throughout the oilsands.
"The plant would take all tailings water, completely clean it, and return it to the river system," said Turner, a biochemist at the U of C. "Just like wastewater in Calgary is cleaned and returned to the Bow River."
Researchers said Wednesday that the findings to be published next month will be used by engineers at the University of Alberta to begin building and testing bioreactors capable of treating the waste in larger volumes.
Managing the toxic slurry that accumulates in tailings ponds is one of the most significant environmental challenges faced by oilsands operators.
The ponds are the byproduct of a process which requires vast amounts of water to extract the viscous bitumen deposits found in the northern part of the province.
Operators recycle the water several times before depositing the pollutant-concentrated leftovers in ponds which pose a threat to wildlife and nearby aquifers.
"Industry is really good at processing the water as many times as they can but eventually it's going to go back into the environment," Turner said.
"But we're hoping this technology will be used as part of a process that will clean that water before it's released into the environment."
The research began two years ago when U of C master's student Susanne Golby became interested in tackling the tailings pond problem and took her ideas to her professors, including Turner.
"Oil is such a big industry in Alberta and there's tonnes of drilling waste and always the risk of pipeline failures and leaks," Golby said.
"So it's a big part of our economy but there's a big part of our environment which is at risk too."