MxM News

Quick Hit:

The Environmental Protection Agency under Administrator Lee Zeldin has released new online resources addressing public concerns about geoengineering and contrails. Zeldin stated the EPA is committed to transparency, publishing everything it knows about these controversial topics.

Key Details:

• New EPA Pages: Explain the science of contrails and debunk “chemtrail” claims, while outlining potential risks of solar geoengineering.
• Zeldin’s Statement: “Americans have legitimate questions… they deserve straight answers,” noting EPA’s concerns about geoengineering health and environmental risks.
• Legislative Context: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene plans to introduce a bill banning atmospheric chemical dispersals for weather modification purposes.

The Trump EPA is committed to total transparency. I tasked my team @EPA to compile everything we know about contrails and geoengineering to release to you now publicly. I want you to know EVERYTHING I know about these topics, and without ANY exception! https://t.co/izKBz0lFvr pic.twitter.com/FkOCgBm3K9

— Lee Zeldin (@epaleezeldin) July 10, 2025

Diving Deeper:

The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday launched two detailed online resources aiming to give Americans what Administrator Lee Zeldin described as “total transparency” on contrails and geoengineering. In a video message, Zeldin said the pages were designed for “anyone who’s ever looked up to the streaks in the sky and asked, ‘What the heck is going on?’”

The EPA’s contrail page clarifies that condensation trails are a normal byproduct of jet aircraft exhaust, akin to car exhaust being visible on a cold day. The agency directly addressed claims that these are “chemtrails” — alleged intentional chemical releases for nefarious purposes like population control or weather modification — stating there is no evidence the federal government has ever used contrails to geoengineer or alter weather.

However, the agency acknowledged the reality of solar geoengineering research, particularly stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI), which aims to reflect sunlight to cool the planet. Zeldin noted that enthusiasm for such experiments has “set off alarm bells” within President Trump’s EPA, as the practice could deplete the ozone layer, damage crops, alter weather patterns, and create acid rain.

Currently, only one private U.S. company, Make Sunsets, has experimented with SAI and marine cloud brightening, though these remain in early research phases. Meanwhile, traditional weather modification, such as cloud seeding, has been conducted at state or local levels to alleviate droughts, not to control climate or populations.

The EPA also highlighted past U.S. government weather modification projects, including Operation Popeye during the Vietnam War, which attempted to extend the monsoon season to disrupt enemy supply lines. Some states, like Florida and Tennessee, have since passed laws banning geoengineering or weather modification without explicit approval.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) recently pledged to introduce federal legislation criminalizing any injection or dispersal of chemicals into the atmosphere to alter weather or climate. Zeldin concluded that the EPA shares Americans’ concerns over geoengineering’s risks and emphasized that this marks the first time the agency has proactively addressed such public fears in this way.

Wapisiw Lookout, reclaimed site of the oil sands industry’s first tailings pond, which started in 1967. The area was restored to a solid surface in 2010 and now functions as a 220-acre watershed. Photo courtesy Suncor Energy

From the Canadian Energy Centre 

By CEC Research

Mines demonstrate significant strides through technological innovation

Tailings are a byproduct of mining operations around the world.

In Alberta’s oil sands, tailings are a fluid mixture of water, sand, silt, clay and residual bitumen generated during the extraction process.

Engineered basins or “tailings ponds” store the material and help oil sands mining projects recycle water, reducing the amount withdrawn from the Athabasca River.

In 2023, 79 per cent of the water used for oil sands mining was recycled, according to the latest data from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER).

Decades of operations, rising production and federal regulations prohibiting the release of process-affected water have contributed to a significant accumulation of oil sands fluid tailings.

The Mining Association of Canada describes that:

“Like many other industrial processes, the oil sands mining process requires water. 

However, while many other types of mines in Canada like copper, nickel, gold, iron ore and diamond mines are allowed to release water (effluent) to an aquatic environment provided that it meets stringent regulatory requirements, there are no such regulations for oil sands mines. 

Instead, these mines have had to retain most of the water used in their processes, and significant amounts of accumulated precipitation, since the mines began operating.”

Despite this ongoing challenge, oil sands mining operators have made significant strides in reducing fluid tailings through technological innovation.

This is demonstrated by reductions in “legacy fluid tailings” since 2015.

Legacy Fluid Tailings vs. New Fluid Tailings

As part of implementing the Tailings Management Framework introduced in March 2015, the AER released Directive 085: Fluid Tailings Management for Oil Sands Mining Projects in July 2016.

Directive 085 introduced new criteria for the measurement and closure of “legacy fluid tailings” separate from those applied to “new fluid tailings.”

Legacy fluid tailings are defined as those deposited in storage before January 1, 2015, while new fluid tailings are those deposited in storage after January 1, 2015.

The new rules specified that new fluid tailings must be ready to reclaim ten years after the end of a mine’s life, while legacy fluid tailings must be ready to reclaim by the end of a mine’s life.

Total Oil Sands Legacy Fluid Tailings

Alberta’s oil sands mining sector decreased total legacy fluid tailings by approximately 40 per cent between 2015 and 2024, according to the latest company reporting to the AER.

Total legacy fluid tailings in 2024 were approximately 623 million cubic metres, down from about one billion cubic metres in 2015.

The reductions are led by the sector’s longest-running projects: Suncor Energy’s Base Mine (opened in 1967), Syncrude’s Mildred Lake Mine (opened in 1978), and Syncrude’s Aurora North Mine (opened in 2001). All are now operated by Suncor Energy.

The Horizon Mine, operated by Canadian Natural Resources (opened in 2009) also reports a significant reduction in legacy fluid tailings.

The Muskeg River Mine (opened in 2002) and Jackpine Mine (opened in 2010) had modest changes in legacy fluid tailings over the period. Both are now operated by Canadian Natural Resources.

Imperial Oil’s Kearl Mine (opened in 2013) and Suncor Energy’s Fort Hills Mine (opened in 2018) have no reported legacy fluid tailings.

Suncor Energy Base Mine

Between 2015 and 2024, Suncor Energy’s Base Mine reduced legacy fluid tailings by approximately 98 per cent, from 293 million cubic metres to 6 million cubic metres.

Syncrude Mildred Lake Mine

Between 2015 and 2024, Syncrude’s Mildred Lake Mine reduced legacy fluid tailings by approximately 15 per cent, from 457 million cubic metres to 389 million cubic metres.

Syncrude Aurora North Mine

Between 2015 and 2024, Syncrude’s Aurora North Mine reduced legacy fluid tailings by approximately 25 per cent, from 102 million cubic metres to 77 million cubic metres.

Canadian Natural Resources Horizon Mine

Between 2015 and 2024, Canadian Natural Resources’ Horizon Mine reduced legacy fluid tailings by approximately 36 per cent, from 66 million cubic metres to 42 million cubic metres.

Total Oil Sands Fluid Tailings 

Reducing legacy fluid tailings has helped slow the overall growth of fluid tailings across the oil sands sector.

Without efforts to reduce legacy fluid tailings, the total oil sands fluid tailings footprint today would be approximately 1.6 billion cubic metres.

The current fluid tailings volume stands at approximately 1.2 billion cubic metres, up from roughly 1.1 billion in 2015.

The unaltered reproduction of this content is free of charge with attribution to the Canadian Energy Centre.