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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Enbridge Gateway pipeline "back on track"

Fri, February 22, 2008
Gateway pipeline back on track
UPDATED: 2008-02-22 01:25:47 MST

Enbridge will transport product from Alberta oilsands to B.C. coast

By MARKUS ERMISCH, SUN MEDIA

Pipeline company Enbridge Inc. has picked up construction pace on the Gateway Pipeline after slowing down the project in late 2006.

Construction is expected to finish between 2012 and 2014, said company spokeswoman Jennifer Varey, noting that construction costs will most likely come in above the original $4 billion.

Cost pressures primarily stem from higher labour prices and materials costs.

North Dakota: Keystone Pipeline Approved

New Pipeline Approved
Feb 21 2008 7:19PM
KXMBTV Bismarck

The Public Service Commission gives the go-ahead for a 218 mile oil pipeline through eastern North Dakota.

The Keystone Pipeline will run through eight counties. You can see it on this map.

The pipeline will carry about 600-thousand barrels of oil per day from Alberta to Illinois and Oklahoma.

Commissioner Kevin Cramer says it's in the public interest to build the pipeline.

Enbridge Gateway "Rekindled" for BC Tankers and Massive Pipelines

Enbridge rekindles oilsands pipeline plan

Jeffrey Jones, Reuters Published: Thursday, February 21, 2008

CALGARY -- Enbridge Inc. has rekindled plans for a $4-billion pipeline to Canada's West Coast in response to demand from producers and refiners wanting oilsands-derived crude shipped to Asia, Enbridge's chief executive said Thursday.

Enbridge, the country's second-largest pipeline operator, has convinced enough potential customers to fund the remaining costs to get the Gateway pipeline project to the regulatory approval stage, CEO Pat Daniel said.

Ottawa Citizen Op Ed on Tar Sands

Matt Price and Allan Adam

Citizen Special

Thursday, February 21, 2008
Todd Korol, Reuters

Canadians are becoming familiar with the scale of destruction in the
tarsands, something that First Nations of the region have known for some
time now.

And people around the world are learning why our country has taken such an
obstructionist role on global warming. Canada and the Bush administration
stand alone against the rest of the world because with the tarsands we are
housing the single most destructive project anywhere on Earth, and the
Americans are getting the oil.

Dehcho "Unlikely to Buckle" under new Chief over MGP

Pipeline holdouts unlikely to buckle
By CP

FORT SIMPSON, N.W.T. -- The new leader of the last aboriginal group to hold out against a northern natural gas pipeline says he isn't likely to bring the Dehcho First Nation on board the $16-billion project any time soon.

Gerald Antoine, chosen last week as interim chief, said yesterday he's not convinced joining a consortium of northern aboriginals that would own a one-third share in the Mackenzie Valley project would serve his people's best interests.

Fort Chip Residents Confront Stelmach on Tar Sands Poisoning of their People

Stelmach denies governments ignoring oilsands health woes
PC leader listens to concerns from native spokesman
Darcy Henton, with files from Mike De Souza, Canwest News Service, Edmonton Journal
Published: Saturday, February 16, 2008

Just after Tory Leader Ed Stelmach derided a new report that calls Alberta's oilsands "the most destructive development on earth," he was confronted by a Mikisew Cree who's worried the megaprojects are poisoning his people.

Alberta Tar Sands Cause Acid Rain

Alta. oilsands cause acid rain
Report issued by environmental group warns of 'most destructive project on Earth'
Matthew Kruchak and James Wood, The StarPhoenix
Published: Saturday, February 16, 2008

Acid rain caused by Alberta oilsands production is pouring down on Saskatchewan and if governments don't take note, any oilsands development in this province will contribute to the "most destructive project on Earth," the Environmental Defence organization warns.

Environmentalists' report to call for Ottawa to act on tar sands

BILL CURRY
From Friday's Globe and Mail

February 15, 2008

OTTAWA - Alberta's oil sands are the most destructive project on Earth,
causing environmental damage well beyond provincial borders, a new report
says.

>From acid rain falling in Saskatchewan to toxic pollution spewing from
Ontario oil refineries, a report to be released this morning by
Toronto-based Environmental Defence calls on Ottawa to act where Alberta
will not.

The environmentalists will be joined by two Alberta native leaders, who will

ConocoPhillips Wants to go Nuclear in the Tar Pits

ConocoPhillips seeks oil sands cost-cutting
By Bloomberg AP and Staff Reports
2/15/2008

A ConocoPhillips executive says the company would be a "fast follower" if other producers were to successfully use nuclear energy to power Canadian oil-sands operations.

"If they should be successful, we would be fast on their heels," Kevin Meyers, president of the Canadian unit of ConocoPhillips, said this week during an energy conference in Houston hosted by Cambridge Energy Research Associates.

Northern pipelines (Alaska Highway, MGP) at mercy of global energy prices, experts say

Northern pipelines at mercy of global energy prices, experts say
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 | 3:05 PM CT
CBC News

Natural gas pipelines being proposed in the North may never be built at this point if global energy consumers can instead import liquefied natural gas from other sources around the world at cheaper prices, experts say.

Projects like the Mackenzie pipeline in the Northwest Territories and the North Slope pipeline down the Alaska Highway have been in the planning stages for decades, with Mackenzie pipeline proponents waiting for regulatory approvals.