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.
Tar sands experts on tap for town hall
by Jennifer Feinberg - Chilliwack Progress
Mar 5, 2014
The risks and the realities of pipelines are the focus of a town hall meeting March 7 at the Best Western Rainbow Country Inn, hosted by the PIPE UP Network.
The timing has to do with the National Energy Board gearing up for hearings on the proposed pipeline project by Kinder Morgan, which is planned to cut through communities across the Lower Mainland.
Oil’s new Arctic passage to Europe
Jeffrey Jones
Calgary — The Globe and Mail
Aug. 15 2013
As some of the biggest players in Canada’s oil industry fight for proposals to move the product west, south and east, a new plan is emerging to move crude north.
Omnitrax Inc., a private U.S. company that owns Churchill, Man.’s port, may provide a new channel for moving crude to markets on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Canadian group pitches Alaska rail line for oil sands
Posted on February 4, 2014
By Jennifer Canfield
Juneau Empire
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Could a $15 billion railroad project reduce the cost of living in Alaska overnight? Matt Vickers, a lead member in the startup group G7G Railway Corp., thinks it can.
Mining Tar Sands Produces Much More Air Pollution Than We Thought
Research shows that emissions of a class of air pollutants are two to three orders of magnitude higher than previously calculated
By Joseph Stromberg
February 3, 2014es
Environmental health risks of Alberta oil sands likely underestimated: study
John Cotter
EDMONTON — The Canadian Press
Feb. 03 2014
A new study suggests the environmental health risks of oilsands operations in Alberta’s Athabasca region have probably been underestimated.
Researchers say emissions of potentially hazardous air pollution that were used in environmental reviews done before approving some projects did not include evaporation from tailings ponds or other sources, such as dust from mining sites.
The Oil Pipeline from the Canadian Tar Sands to the Gulf Coast Is Complete
Philip Bump
Jan 22, 2014
Associated Press
Congratulations to the people of TransCanada, Inc., whose long fight to connect the tar-sands-oil-pumping Keystone pipeline to the Gulf Coast of America finally reached fruition on Wednesday. Even without Keystone XL being approved.
Toxic rocks and declining health: 3.5 years after Enbridge's tar sands pipeline disaster
By
Sonia Grant
| January 14, 2014
As communities in Ontario and Quebec await the National Energy Board’s (NEB) decision on the Line 9 reversal, new details about the devastating impacts of Enbridge’s now infamous 2010 Kalamazoo River spill in Michigan raise a series of unanswered questions about the health impacts of exposure to spilled diluted bitumen (dilbit), and about Enbridge’s ability to manage potential pipeline incidents.
The Kalamazoo River’s toxic rocks
Neil Young renews push on treaty rights, oil-sands development
BRAD WHEELER
The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Jan. 13 2014
On the day following his Honor the Treaties concert at Massey Hall, where he had lambasted the Canadian government’s handling of Alberta’s oil-sands development, Neil Young continued his campaign against the environmental policies of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s administration.
Climate change rattles mental health of Inuit in Labrador
'Grief, mourning, anger, frustration' over environmental changes
CBC News Posted: Jan 10, 2014
Researchers studying the mental health and well-being of Inuit populations in coastal Labrador say rising temperatures are having damaging psychological effects on people in traditional communities.
'Many people said they also felt very depressed about not being able to get out there on the land'- Ashlee Cunsolo Willox, researcher for Inuit Mental Health Adaptation to Climate Change project
Enbridge’s Expansion: The Flanagan South Pipeline
The Cause:
To resist the construction of the KXL and the expansion of tar sands infrastructure and dedicated to stopping Tar Sands transportation and extraction infrastructure in the beautiful heartland of North America.
1: Opposition to all forms of Tar Sands exploitation
2. Opposition to Infrastructure Which Supports Further Tar Sands Exploitation
3: Explicit Support for Indigenous Peoples
4: Acknowledgement of Direct Action as A Legitimate and Necessary Tactic
5: No Condemnation of Resistance
