UPDATE August 1st 2013: TransCanada has announced they intend on moving forward with their Energy East Pipeline and have unfortunately even added to its capacity, making it now a 1.1 million barrel per day project.
Be sure to bring your concerns and your friends to the public engagement meetings TransCanada is hosting.
We must all act to correct TransCanada's untruths about the safety of converting a very old natural gas mainline to transport high volumes of diluted bitumen. We must help our friends see through TransCanada's claims of job creation and national energy security. Our waters and our environments need our voices.
TransCanada Pipelines' West-to-East project (called "Energy East Pipeline") would involve 3,000 kilometres of fifty-five year old natural gas pipeline (TransCanada's mainline) being converted to carry diluted bitumen from the tar sands East. There would also be 1,400 kilometres of new pipeline added. The pipeline would carry the astronomical volume of up to 850,000 barrels per day across Canada (larger than the Keystone XL).
In the 55 year history of this natural gas mainline there have already been several significant incidents. We can expect these numbers to increase as a pipeline built in the 1950's begins use for something other than what it was intended. Oil is much more dangerous than Natural Gas when it leaks into the environment and tar sands oil (diluted bitumen) especially is nearly impossible to clean up because it sinks, unlike regular crude.
This pipeline traverses rivers, runs adjacent to lakes, and passes through several important waterways: Lake of the Woods, Temagami, Mattawa River, Ottawa River, St. Lawrence River, etc. This pipeline also passes through vital drinking water sources; for example, in North Bay, Ontario it goes through the Trout Lake watershed which provides the municipal drinking water for over 54,000 people.
