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Dr David Schindler was publicly discredited by the provincial government and some media in 2010 when his study showed serious pollution downstream from the oilsands. On Friday, he was praised by both federal and provincial environment ministers for creating the “spark” that led to the new monitoring system for the oilsands. Photograph by: Ryan Jackson, Calgary Herald Archive |
Oilsands critic goes from zero to hero
By Don Braid,
Calgary Herald
February 4, 2012
An outcast less than two years ago, U of A scientist David Schindler is now courted reverently by politicians as they desperately try to recapture credibility on the oilsands.
In 2010, the province said the ecology professor was dead wrong when his study showed serious pollution downstream from the oilsands.
For many months he was a man scorned, criticized and derided by politicians and some media.
Schindler, 72, concedes that he had some bad moments because he refused to back down under severe political pressure.
"I had a pretty tough year when all this was going on," he says. "My wife had cancer. So I'd spend my day here dealing with all this crap and then sit with her in the hospital.
"It was a pretty tough period."
Today, the much better news is that his wife is cancer-free; and governments not only acknowledge Schindler was right, but almost plead for his approval as they scramble to recover from decades of environmental laxity.
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