Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Labour / Migration

It is falsely assumed that big projects equal lots of jobs and, by extension, labour peace if not outright satisfaction. The size and scope of the tarsands means for incredibly dangerous work conditions-- some fatalities at the plants have already occurred. The products seldom get their "value added" in union-run locations, instead the heavy bitumen can be shipped to many different locations across North America for refining, denying benefits to the union. However, the Union does not represent the "guest worker", now being imported in increasing numbers as legislation is changed to make access easier, the term of exploitation last longer, without any new efforts or pathways to deciding to stay after helping tear up the earth.

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CNRL (operators of Horizon) charged in foreign slave-labour deaths

EDMONTON — The Alberta government announced Tuesday that 53 charges have
been laid in the deaths of two foreign workers at an oilsands site two years
ago.

Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company Ltd.,
and SSEC Canada Ltd., have been charged under the Occupational Health and
Safety Act.

A breakdown of the charges was not immediately available.

Alberta Employment Minister Hector Goudreau said the charges signal to the
world that Alberta's oilsands remain a safe place to work.

Meeting set in Lindsay on Keystone XL pipeline project

Meeting set in Lindsay on pipeline project
Published on Tuesday, April 21, 2009.
By The Gazette Staff

Property owners and others along the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline are invited to hear from experts on landowner alliances and pipeline safety Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Lindsay Community Hall in Lindsay.

Lindsay is halfway between Glendive and Circle on Montana 200.

Nexen, Opti Canada may be targeted in tar sands deals

Nexen, Opti Canada may be targeted in oil sands deals
By Joe Carroll, Bloomberg
April 3, 2009

Nexen Inc. and Opti Canada Inc. may be among Canadian oil companies targeted for takeovers as a price collapse triggers a rush by larger producers to amass holdings in the biggest crude deposits outside Saudi Arabia.

Alaska Highway Pipeline competitors update legislators about progress

Despite the continuation of the little side show designed to make us believe that this pipeline is set to go to "markets in the lower 48", there is still both the maps of where the gas is to go (the Alberta Grid) and the basic math which tells us that the pipeline is *needed* in order to get to the production targets for the tar sands of Alberta-- over 5 million barrels a day of tar sands bitumen/ mock oil.

--M

Pipeline competitors update legislators about progress
GAS: Transcanada says it has expertise; Denali sees concerns with partnership.
Petroleum News
April 15th, 2009

BP 'still committed' to Sunrise: chairman

BP 'still committed' to Sunrise: chairman
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post
Thursday, April 16, 2009

CALGARY -- BP PLC is considering a range of options to move forward the Sunrise oil sands project with partner Husky Energy Inc., including integrating carbon capture and storage to mitigate the environmental impact, chairman Peter Sutherland told the annual meeting of shareholders in London on Thursday.

"Pipe From India Incenses Illinois Town" [Keystone]

Pipe From India Incenses Illinois Town
Dan Gill for The New York Times

Steel pipes marked "Made in India" sat ready for the Canada-to-Oklahoma pipeline at the Port Authority in Granite City, Ill.

April 15, 2009

GRANITE CITY, Ill. — Jeff Rains, a retired steel worker at the sprawling mill here, made the discovery. Out walking a month ago, he waited impatiently at a rail crossing while a freight train slowly passed, its flatbed cars stacked with steel pipes, each wide enough for a child to crawl through. Then he noticed “Made in India” stenciled on the pipes.

Petro-Canada Cuts 200 Jobs, blames Fort Hills

Petro-Canada Cuts 200 Jobs From Oil-Sands Unit On Proj Delay
* APRIL 15, 2009

OTTAWA (Dow Jones)--Petro-Canada (PCZ) is cutting some 200 jobs in its oil-sands unit as its Fort Hills project remains stalled amid weakened oil prices and the stuttering economy.

The layoffs, which will affect nearly a third of the department's employees, are "absolutely not at all connected" to the merger with Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) announced last month, said Petro-Canada spokeswoman Kelli Stevens.

United Steelworkers join with Sierra Club, challenge Keystone Pipeline

United Steelworkers Challenges TransCanada Keystone Pipeline Permit for Safety

PITTSBURGH, PA UNITED STATES

Joins Sierra Club filing on leak risk of under-standard thin-wall pipe

PITTSBURGH, April 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) announced it has challenged the pending federal permit in the controversial $5.4 billion TransCanada Keystone Pipeline that's using under-standard thin-wall pipe for transport of crude oil from Alberta, Canada to Houston, Tex.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080131/DC12982LOGO)

Enbridge analyzed [British Columbia]

Enbridge analyzed
By Rebecca Billard - Burns Lake Lakes District News
April 07, 2009 11:00 PM

Carbon capture and storage 'being oversold as a panacea'

The Hill Times, April 13, 2009
Carbon capture and storage 'being oversold as a panacea'
But critics and experts say there are geological risks, it's a waste of taxpayers' money and the 'economics are deadly.'

By Bea Vongdouangchanh