Oil Sands Truth: Shut Down the Tar Sands

Water

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.

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Warning: Corporate Redwash

Kitimat project worth $1 billion to First Nations

Scott Simpson,
Canwest News Service
Victoria Times Colonist
April 30, 2009

Some First Nations stand to gain more than $1 billion in profits, taxes
and business opportunities from a proposed liquid natural gas project in
northern British Columbia, Canwest News Service has learned.

Proponents of a $4-billion project that includes a 463-kilometre gas
pipeline and a liquefied natural gas plant at Kitimat are still ironing
out final details of a landmark agreement among aboriginal groups,

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.

Do you know where your oil comes from?

Do you know where your oil comes from?
Canadians most certainly do. But it's not a pretty sight.
April 16, 2009
By Sandro Contenta

TORONTO — When President Barack Obama vowed this week to reverse U.S. dependence on "foreign oil," did he also mean Canada's? It's a question Americans might want to consider.

Council approves call to halt tar sands

Council approves call to halt tar sands
Cara Loverock
Northern News Services
Published Friday, April 17, 2009

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A motion to stop new tar sands approvals in Alberta until certain measures are put in place was passed on Tuesday.

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.

Tar sands water hearings due in Wood Buffalo in May

Oilsands hearings due in Wood Buffalo in May
CAROL CHRISTIAN // April 16, 2009
Fort McMurray Today staff

The federal hearings on the impact of oilsands development on fresh water will be heading to the Wood Buffalo area next month, prompted by the urging of Edmonton MP Linda Duncan.

While hearings have been held in Ottawa since they resumed in March, hearing from government witnesses first, it was a bit of a battle to get them to Alberta, a victory that Duncan says was hard-fought.

Doc’s claims ‘hurtful’: O’Connor

Doc’s claims ‘hurtful’: O’Connor
CAROL CHRISTIAN
Fort McMurray Today staff

After three years of drawing attention to elevated cancer rates in Fort Chipewyan, Dr. John O'Connor now finds himself at a loss to explain “hurtful” comments from a Health Canada medical officer of health that he misreported the cancers.

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.

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