Read

User menu

Search form

Largest Leak In 35 Years – 1.3 Million Gallon Tar Sands Spill Pollutes Canada

Largest Leak In 35 Years – 1.3 Million Gallon Tar Sands Spill Pollutes Canada
Mon, 7/20/2015 - by Ari Phillips
This article originally appeared on Think Progress

A pipeline spill in Alberta, Canada has leaked some 1,320,000 gallons, or 31,000 barrels, of emulsion — a mixture of bitumen, produced water, and sand — south of Fort McMurray, a hub for Canada’s tar sands mining and refining industry.

The leak, which was discovered Wednesday afternoon, is the largest pipeline spill in the province in 35 years, when a 54,000 barrel oil spill became Canada’s worst-ever pipeline incident.

Pipeline operator Nexen Energy, a subsidiary of China's CNOOC Ltd, and the Alberta Energy Regulator had not as of Friday identified the cause of the leak, which has been contained. At this point there are no reports of injuries to wildlife or contamination of nearby bodies of water. The spill covered some 170,000 square feet, of four acres, mostly along the path of the pipeline.

Bitumen is a combination of viscous tar sands crude oil and liquid chemicals like benzene that dilute the crude so it can be piped to refineries. Produced water is water used during the process of oil or gas extraction that can contain hydraulic fracturing chemical additives and naturally occurring substances and is not suitable for irrigation or drinking. It must be stored in tanks or pits before being treated and disposed.

In a statement about the spill, Greenpeace communications officer Peter Louwe said the leak is “a good reminder that Alberta has a long way to go to address its pipeline problems, and that communities have good reasons to fear having more built.”

“New pipelines would also facilitate the expansion of the tar sands — Canada’s fastest-growing source of carbon emissions — and accelerate the climate crisis even more,” he said.

Greenpeace and other environmental organizations have fought hard to prevent the Keystone XL pipeline from being built, which would transport up to 830,000 barrels of Canadian tar sands oil per day down to Gulf Coast refineries. While Obama vetoed legislation approving the construction of the pipeline in February, it is still under review by the State Department — as it has been for more than six years.

Meanwhile, Alberta is not the only place where oil spills are demanding attention. Halfway around the world in Australia, a potential oil spill was found on Friday along the Great Barrier Reef. The Reef, an especially delicate ecosystem and World Heritage Site, has come under multiple stressors in recent years, including development, fossil fuel export, and climate change.

Authorities are still investigating the cause and extent of the spill.

In the United States, upgrading a dated pipeline system has become one of the few bipartisan environmental issues in the 114th Congress. At a recent House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, Democrats and Republicans took the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) to task for failing to implement several provisions of a pipeline safety law. A recent 105,000-gallon oil spill along the southern coast of California near Santa Barbara — a stronghold of the environmental movement — has galvanized elected officials into addressing the issue.

Politicians differ on what the solution should be. While environmentalists and politicians concerned with the impacts of climate change would like to see a reduction in oil and gas production alongside any upgrades, many Republicans want to build more new pipelines — including the Keystone XL.

Originally published by Think Progress

3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT

ONE-TIME DONATION

Just use the simple form below to make a single direct donation.

DONATE NOW

MONTHLY DONATION

Be a sustaining sponsor. Give a reacurring monthly donation at any level.

GET SOME MERCH!

Now you can wear your support too! From T-Shirts to tote bags.

SHOP TODAY

Sign Up

Article Tabs

The American people clearly spoke, and the drubbing Democrats received requires looking beyond just issue polls, voting patterns, campaign strategy, or get-out-the-vote tactics.

The recent decisions by two of the most influential national newspapers of record to not publish their endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris says a lot about how seriously they take Trump’s threats to democracy and his promises of vengeance against his enemies.

On the eve of the historic November vote, it seems important to ask: What's wrong with men, how did we get here, and can we change this?

As Trump’s campaign grows increasingly bizarre, his team appears to be more tightly controlling his movements and carefully scripting his public appearances to minimize the negative impact his erratic behavior may have on undecided voters in swing states.

Throughout history, fascist governments have had a similar reliance on the use of lies as a weapon to take and retain power.

The American people clearly spoke, and the drubbing Democrats received requires looking beyond just issue polls, voting patterns, campaign strategy, or get-out-the-vote tactics.

The recent decisions by two of the most influential national newspapers of record to not publish their endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris says a lot about how seriously they take Trump’s threats to democracy and his promises of vengeance against his enemies.

On the eve of the historic November vote, it seems important to ask: What's wrong with men, how did we get here, and can we change this?

As Trump’s campaign grows increasingly bizarre, his team appears to be more tightly controlling his movements and carefully scripting his public appearances to minimize the negative impact his erratic behavior may have on undecided voters in swing states.

Throughout history, fascist governments have had a similar reliance on the use of lies as a weapon to take and retain power.

On the eve of the historic November vote, it seems important to ask: What's wrong with men, how did we get here, and can we change this?

Posted 3 weeks 3 days ago

Former President Donald Trump is now openly fantasizing about deputizing death squads against Americans.

Posted 1 month 1 week ago

The 2024 Republican ticket’s incitement of violence against Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, is revealing in more ways than one.

Posted 1 month 3 weeks ago

Throughout history, fascist governments have had a similar reliance on the use of lies as a weapon to take and retain power.

Posted 1 month 6 days ago

What Britain needs now is more politics, not more police.

Posted 1 month 3 weeks ago

The recent decisions by two of the most influential national newspapers of record to not publish their endorsements of Vice President Kamala Harris says a lot about how seriously they take Trump’s threats to democracy and his promises of vengeance against his enemies.

On the eve of the historic November vote, it seems important to ask: What's wrong with men, how did we get here, and can we change this?