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.
May 15, 2008 8:28:00 PM MST
North Dakota judge denies attempt to halt Keystone oil pipeline
BISMARCK, N.D. _ A judge has refused to stop a crude-oil pipeline that TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) wants to build in eastern North Dakota, saying state regulators considered adequate safety precautions in approving its route.
A project spokesman said construction should begin next week.
KEARL PERMIT DENIED
Imperial project delayed as it awaits Cabinet action
Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post, With Files From Carrie Tait
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008
CALGARY - Imperial Oil Ltd.'s $8-billion Kearl oil-sands project faces a major delay after a federal court judge yesterday turned down its request to have a key permit reinstated.
Provinces wrangle over nuclear plant
Jon Harding, Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, May 07, 2008
CALGARY -- Alberta and Saskatchewan are competing to house Western Canada's first commercial nuclear power plant, Saskatchewan's Natural Resources Minister Bill Boyd confirmed Tuesday.
Boyd said his Saskatchewan Party government has held "early" talks with Bruce Power LP, the private nuclear operator from Western Ontario.
Hot issue = cool debate
A report that suggests Lake Diefenbaker might be a good location for a nuclear power plant does not mean such a facility will ever be built. It does, however, kickstart a welcome debate.
The Leader-Post
Published: Friday, May 09, 2008
Nuclear energy, we hope, is finally on the table for discussion in Saskatchewan.
Ducks die in oily Sask. pond
Province investigates deaths of 53 birds at waste retention site
Darren Bernhardt, The StarPhoenix
Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008
The provincial government is scrambling to deal with the deaths of 53 ducks at an oil-extraction site west of Saskatoon.
It's not just about 500 dead ducks
May 11, 2008 04:30 AM
Gillian Steward
Who could have known that a flock of ducks on its way home for the summer was fated to become a powerful symbol of all that is wrong with Alberta's most vital industrial project – the tar sands?
As much of the world knows by now, about 500 of them died when they set down on a lake of oily goo, usually referred to by the petroleum industry and the government as a tailing pond – a much more neutral phrase than 22 square kilometres of toxic sludge produced when oil is extracted from the sandy soil.
More Dollars for Gas and Oil Research
By 250 News
Monday, April 21, 2008 03:08 PM
The allocations for the $12 million dollars the Province promised in the latest budget for mineral and oil and gas research have been announced.
Geoscience BC will be getting $5.7 million for projects to enhance the exploration and development of oil and gas.
The money will be used for projects such as regional airborne geophysical surveys with a focus on the Horn River Basin, in thenorth east part of B.C. , one of the hottest areas in oil and gas rights sales.
For your daily Greenwash dose... Suncor sympathetic over ducks... and not a hint of sympathy for the loss of other human lives.
--M
Suncor CEO defends record on environment
Rick George sympathizes over duck loss
Dan Healing, with a file from Shaun Polczer, Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, May 10, 2008
A speech about the business outlook for Alberta's oilsands industry Friday morning turned into a defence of its environmental record for Suncor Energy Inc. CEO Rick George.
Last surviving duck hangs in
By Victoria Handysides
May 13, 2008
A female mallard duck is the only surviving creature that took a dip in Syncrude’s toxic tailings pond that will live to tell the tale.
In total, 18 birds have been brought to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton from different tailings ponds in the Fort McMurray area. Only six have survived.
Scenes From the Tar Wars
NEWS: As Canada scrambles to dig up some of the world's dirtiest oil, a bush doctor
tracks mysterious diseases, poisoned rivers, and shattered lives.
By Josh Harkinson
May/June 2008 Issue
At a small airport in the northern Alberta town of Fort McMurray, a rickety,
single-engine Cessna hurtles off the ground with a roar. Dr. John O'Connor ignores
the shuddering fuselage, the tail wiggle, the steep climb above the spruce trees at
the end of the runway. For O'Connor, a bush doctor who has tended to some of
