Oil - Pipelines

A new study has found that certain types of chemical pollutants emitted by Canada's oilsands tailing ponds have gone underreported for years.

Using a computer simulation model, two University of Toronto scientists also found the pollutants in question are blowing off mine sites or evaporating from nearly two dozen impoundments containing a billion cubic metres of toxic waste.
 

CALGARY - The proposed Energy East pipeline won't be the boon to Eastern Canadian refineries that supporters claim because the vast majority of the oil in it would be bound for export markets, environmental groups argued in a report released Tuesday. The $12-billion project would likely use the lion's share of its 1.1 million barrel per day capacity to send unrefined oilsands crude to markets like India, Europe and possibly the United States, says the report, penned by The Council of Canadians, Ecology Action Centre, Environmental Defence and Equiterre.

The Mayor of Burnaby says that if Kinder Morgan’s application to expand their pipeline is approved without amendments, he’d stand in front of a bulldozer. “I know I’m [ready], I know that residents will stand there with me. I’m prepared to fight this out to the bitter end. I’m incensed with how we’ve been treated,” says Derek Corrigan, one day after Burnaby formally requested the National Energy Board reject the proposed expansion due to a lack of sufficient information.

 Today, the City of Burnaby formally requested that the National Energy Board find that the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project application is incomplete and reject it on the basis that it contains neither the information needed for the NEB to make an informed decision nor sufficient information for the public to understand and analyze the impacts of the Project and does not comply with NEB rules. “We are extremely concerned about multiple aspects of this proposal that we know will have very negative impacts on our City,” says Mayor Derek Corrigan.

The Alberta government plans to include oil and gas companies in consultations on the new school curriculum. School boards were asked to come up with groups to provide input on what children should learn. The Edmonton Public School Board plans to ask oilsands companies Suncor and Syncrude what to teach children in kindergarten to Grade 3. "What are we looking for in the graduates of tomorrow. Certainly we have a perspective but we need to hear all stakeholders," said Mark Liguori, assistant superintendent of schools for Edmonton Public.

Rail service between Ottawa and Toronto and Toronto and Montreal is expected to gradually return to normal on Saturday following a blockade near Napanee. Via Rail says the interruption affected a few thousand passengers and forced four trains to stop in Belleville or Kingston, while three other trains were precluded from operating. Some delays were to be expected for passengers travelling on Saturday, but Via said it doesn’t anticipate any significant delays to its operations on Sunday as a result of Saturday’s events.

Yesterday, Canadian pipeline behemoth Enbridge won government approval for its plans for 9B, one of the most contentious pipes in pipe business. While it doesn’t get much press, 9B is important because it’s part of a hot, new trend in trans-national pipe dreams: Skirting environmental review, and public scrutiny, by pumping dirty crude through existing pipelines rather than building new ones.

WASHINGTON -- The State Department's final environmental impact analysis for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline downplays the significance the pipeline would have for development of the Canadian tar sands, according to a new analysis from a United Kingdom-based group. The analysis also argues that the State Department underestimated the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that would come with that development.

WASHINGTON -- The State Department's final environmental impact analysis for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline downplays the significance the pipeline would have for development of the Canadian tar sands, according to a new analysis from a United Kingdom-based group. The analysis also argues that the State Department underestimated the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that would come with that development.

Two major oil pipelines -- the most expensive in Canada -- passed key hurdles this week: Energy East and Line 3 Replacement.  Observers say they lead to “massive” environmental and economic consequences. In a dizzying week of oil announcements, two new giant west-to-east pipelines passed key milestones.