Water is needed in huge amounts in tarsands production and in all other construction stages of tarsands infrastructure across the continent. It takes five litres of water to produce one of usable petrol. There is also water used to move gas, build new tar pits or that water which becomes polluted in the outlying areas. Waste tailings ponds are so vast as to be visible from outer space at this early point in production. Water is now being privatized in slow motion, as “access rights” are available in Alberta. As production grows and climate change continues to parch southern Albertan land, more and more water will be needed to help supply fuel for the American market. This water will ultimately be diverted from rivers, lakes, farms and cities throughout Canada; the water levels in the Athabasca River have already dropped several meters. The Deh Cho/Mackenzie River is already threatened, both from development along its valley and it is downstream from tar sands operations. A generation ago, the Athabasca River was clear and drinking was common. Now, those that live with the river consider it poison and off-limits.
Alberta Health Board Fires Doctor Who Raised Cancer Alarms
'I am stunned,' says Dr. John O'Connor, a veteran presence in First Nations community.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, 11 May 2015, TheTyee.ca
An Alberta health board has fired Dr. John O'Connor, the physician who came to national prominence after raising questions about rare cancers in the tarsands region.
The Nunee Health Board Society send O'Connor a letter last Friday saying it no longer required his professional services.
Bunker (Fuel) Down
Oil Spill on Beaches of World’s ‘Greenest City’
by MACDONALD STAINSBY
Vancouver, British Columbia, Coast Salish Territories
Weekend edition, April 10-12, 2015
Here are the other tar-sands pipelines Canada is trying to build
By Bobby Magill on 31 Mar 2015
Climate Central
A decision on whether to allow the Keystone XL pipeline to be built in the U.S. could come at any time, but there are myriad other projects on the table designed to do exactly what Keystone XL was designed to do: transport Canadian tar-sands oil to refineries.
Pipeline opponents urge support
More than 200 area people turned out in Lake Mills March 19 for an educational forum on Enbridge Energy’s project to increase the flow of tar sands oil through a pipeline that runs through Dane, Jefferson, Rock and Walworth counties.
Posted: Wednesday, March 25, 2015
By Randy Radtke Special to The Courier |
Opponents of Enbridge Inc.’s expansion of Pipeline 61 began a concerted organizational effort to rally public support to their cause with an educational forum in Lake Mills March 19.
Grassroots Dene people defending the land in northern Saskatchewan
By Scott Neigh
| March 25, 2015
On this week's episode of Talking Radical Radio, I speak with Don Montgrand and Candyce Paul. They are grassroots Dene people living in northern Saskatchewan, and they talk with me about the Northern Dene Trappers Alliance and its efforts to defend the land and to defend the Dene people in the face of companies and governments pushing predatory resource extraction.
Environmentalists ask Chicago mayor to investigate BP oil spill
By Tara Kadioglu Post-Tribune
March 25, 2015
Environmentalist claim heavy oil leak was tar sands
Environmental activists delivered a letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel Wednesday demanding a public report and investigation into at least 1,600 gallons of heavy crude oil spilled into Lake Michigan last year from BP's Whiting refinery.
BP confirms oil spill into Lake Michigan from Whiting refinery
While We’ve Been Debating Keystone, The U.S. Has Grown Its Pipeline Network By Almost A Quarter
by Katie Valentine Posted on March 16, 2015
Americans have been waiting for the federal government to come to a decision over the Keystone XL pipeline for more than six years, enduring countless protests, Congressional hearings and even a Presidential veto over the controversial project.
But during that time, pipeline construction in the U.S. hasn’t slowed — in fact, it’s surged.
Environment: Canadian Citizen groups say new tar sands rules too weak to protect the Athabasca River
Posted on March 14, 2015
by Bob Berwyn
Staff Report
FRISCO — A set of proposed new water rules has unleashed a storm of protest in Canada, where citizen and conservation groups charge that the government is giving away the store to energy companies exploiting the tar sans of Alberta.
U.S. Senate fails to override Obama’s veto of Keystone XL bill
Paul Koring
WASHINGTON — The Globe and Mail
Published Wednesday, Mar. 04 2015
Keystone XL backers in the U.S. Senate failed Wednesday to override President Barack Obama’s veto of congressional efforts to approve the controversial Canadian oil sands pipeline.
Cut costs or face ‘death spiral,’ CNRL warns oil sands
PETER SCOWEN
FORT McMURRAY, ALTA. — The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Feb. 19 2015
The president of one of Canada’s biggest oil and gas producers delivered a stern warning to the oil sands industry, telling a room full of Fort McMurray business people that they need to start cutting costs or the industry will fall into a “death spiral.”
The “made in Fort McMurray cost” of doing business has risen too quickly and must end, Steve Laut of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. told members of the local Chamber of Commerce.
