Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

Long Lake is different from Syncrude: Rather than being an established plant, it is a work camp, or a plant in the process of being established. As such, it is even more isolated than previous locations, especially since Katie has chosen the free, on-site room and board option rather than living in town. A Somali taxi driver warns her that the people she hears about in scary stories about the place are the people who don’t live there; they act dangerously because they don’t consider it home. When Katie is assigned her room, she learns that she is one of the few women in the block. She is apprehensive and makes sure to lock her doors at night. By contrast, orientation is no longer new; she is no longer horrified by the safety videos. She is skeptical that the new mining techniques are actually “better” for the environment.

Katie learns more about her coworkers and social dynamics at Long Lake. Her boss, Leon, has terminal cancer, while her friend, Mike, reveals that many workers are regular cocaine users. Damian, a young male coworker, spreads her phone number around as a “joke,” and the situation for women is worse here than on other sites.