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Greens Launch NAFTA Action on Canada Oil Sands
OTTAWA - Environmental groups launched
a complaint against Canada under the North American Free Trade
Agreement on Wednesday, saying the country has failed to
enforce anti-pollution rules governing its vast oil sands. In the latest move in a long-running campaign to highlight
the impact of oil sands development, the submission by
Environmental Defence Canada, Natural Resources Defense Council
and three citizens charges that toxic tailings ponds are being
allowed to leak and contaminate ground water. "We're out of options when it comes to trying to get the
government to enforce its law," Matt Price, policy director at
Environmental Defence Canada, told reporters. "This is one avenue where we can, at the very least,
embarrass the Canadian government into trying to enforce its
law by having Mexican and U.S. officials essentially poring
over our dirty laundry, which is not something Canada wants,"
he said. Tailings ponds came to symbolize the battle between green
groups and the oil sands industry in 2008, when 1,600 ducks
were killed when they landed on a tailings pond at Syncrude
Canada Ltd's operation. Syncrude faces federal and provincial
charges over the incident and the case is now being tried. Meanwhile, people in a small settlement on Lake Athabasca,
downstream from the massive energy projects in northern
Alberta, suffer unusually high rates of cancers, but provincial
health officials have been reluctant to tie that to water
contamination from the oil sands. One of the three citizens behind the submission lives in
that community, Fort Chipewyan, Alberta. Environment Minister Jim Prentice said there is no data to
support the allegation that there is leeching from tailing
ponds into the Athabasca River, but promised to study the
situation more closely. "I've indicated to the department that this is a serious
issue of real concern and that I expect them to step up the
monitoring efforts," he told reporters in Ottawa. Oil sands developers have countered the green groups with
their own communications push, one they expanded last week.
They say their environmental standards are high and they are
making strides in improving performance. EDC and NRDC said their NAFTA submission documents cases
where tailings leaks from projects run by Royal Dutch Shell Plc
(RDSa.L), Syncrude Canada Ltd, and Suncor Energy (SU.TO) have
reached surface waters as well the region's ground water. Environmental Defence Canada estimates the tailings ponds
leak 4 billion liters a year into groundwater, and that could
rise to 25 billion liters a year if all planned projects go
ahead. "These tailings ponds are now so vast you can see them from
space," Price said. NAFTA's environmental side-body must first accept the
submission. Representatives of the three NAFTA countries --
Canada, the United States and Mexico -- sit on the body so if
two of the three approve, they would investigate in a process
that could take up to three years. Ultimately, it could levy financial penalties, although
Price said he knew of no precedent of such action. "Should one of the parties -- that's Mexico, Canada or the
U.S. -- feel that there's a systematic failure on the part of
the government to enforce (environmental regulations), the
parties can bring a motion for those kinds of financial
penalties," Price told reporters.
Workers use heavy machinery in the tailings pond at the Syncrude oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta Province, Canada in 2009. Canadian and US environmental groups, as well as citizens, on Wednesday launched a NAFTA complaint alleging Ottawa is not enforcing its own rules by allowing oil sands miners to pollute area waterways.
(AFP/File/Mark Ralston) The ponds store residual oil, heavy metals and other
byproducts of oil sands processing in the western province of
Alberta. They are subject to environmental provisions under the
federal Fisheries Act, the groups said.
(Reporting by Louise Egan and Jeffrey Jones; editing by Peter
Galloway)
14 Comments so far
Show AllThe rewards for corporations to despoil the earth shine brightly in comparison to the minimal penalties. In addition much of the land being utilized by oil companies in Canada is owned by Indigenous Peoples who oppose the oil extraction. Governments and corporations have become so powerful that they willfully and illegally extract tar sands oil and pollute the land without concern. Adam Smith the father of Capitalism warned that both governments and churches must limit the power of Capitalism. Since governments and churches have failed in their responsibilities, fundamentalist capitalism is forging a path of absolute destruction rationalized by blind greed. Who will stop it? How can it be stopped?
Stone you asked some very important questions. Who will stop it? How can it be stopped? If I was to make a guess I would say many people around the world are asking those same questions.
After thinking about those questions myself and praying about the situation we are facing; have come to the conclusion that WE THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD need to be the ones to stop it. The children deserve better than what is happening and if we want them to inherit any kind of country than we who are at the helm today must FIGHT. Yet, we as a generation are not fighting to save this nation like our forefathers did. Their blood runs through my veins. Not only do I have the blood of those brave men and women who fought in the American Revolution and founded the greatest nation in the world, but I also have the blood of Flora Mac Donald who helped Prince Charles escape. It is a natural state for all men to want to live free is it not?
I still remember in the movie Braveheart the speech of William Wallace about freedom. Isn't it better to die with our boots on than to do nothing? I would rather fight for freedom and die in the fight than to live and surrender being mad at myself for not fighting. I would feel my children would have the right to curse me if I didn't fight.
Yet what is wrong with this generation of men who do not seem to want to fight the evil that is confronting us? Why is that? To many people take the attitude of IT IS NOT MY PROBLEM. How many people are going to read your wise words and decide to join the FIGHT? How many people will just turn their heads and make excuses of why they can't fight to save their children from suffering in the future? We need our men to be real men and be willing to fight against the evil and destroy the evil dragon that threatens us.
On to the next question of How can it be stopped? Another good question that deserves time to ponder. I believe that part of the answer putting our minds together and brainstorming lots of ideas to try. If we listen to each other with an open mind and really listen to each other then we can put the good ideas together in a battle plan.
So lets gets back to the question of will we as qeneration have the courage to fight?
the problem is... 50-100-150 years of "consumer goods"... "creature comforts"... is going to be hard to dial back...
tomorrow... ask anyone you meet... ANYone... ask yourself... "what" modern convenience am i willing to forgo forever... my cell phone... my vacuum cleaner... my "anything that requires more than human energy to power & run"... you know... i'll move to a hand crank radio... i'll pull out all them recessed lights... i'll ride my bike to work...
i have a feeling the current generation of in-power elites realize the planet is headed for a burnt cinder... so they're grabbin' everything in sight... and in their eyes... it's CODB... cost of doing business...
like blankenship & massey energy... why don't they come down on this guy/company responsible for the recent deaths of 29 workers... and more before that... with the same relentless ruthless focused precision as the congress did to ACORN... guilty of no more than an unwieldy corporate structure... based on the doctored video of a political hatchet-man wanna be...
because... poor people voting don't count. energy providers do.
Should such a thing ever happen, a Mexican official sitting in judgment of American exploitation of Canadian resources might make an interesting precedent.
FT Macmurray is located at the confluence of three rivers, those being the Athabasca, the Clearwater and the Hangingstone .
All of these rivers are now being used as sources of water for the process of separating the oil from the sand. These rivers then flow up as one to Lake Athabasca.
Lake Athabasca is one of the worlds largest lakes and the delta where Ft Chipewyan is built is one of the most biodiverse regions in all Alberta. This is also up where Wood Buffalo National park is.
Form there the lakes waters flow up through Canadas north via the Mackenzie river and into the Arctic ocean. The fish and waters of the Arctic ocean which is thousands of miles away is also being polluted by the tar sands.
Look at a map of that region. Its all rivers and lakes, all interconnected. Alexander Mackenzie was the first European to cross the the upper part of North America by land (some years before lewis and Clark) and referred to the landscape from Ft Chip westwards as the most beautiful and pristine he had ever seen.
Lake Athabasca has been doubly cursed. At one end the Athabasca river flowing into it its waters contaminated by all the Tar sand plants, and at the other end (The Saskatchewan side) pollutants from places like Uranium City where the tailings from Uranium mining leaked into the lake.
Doesn't China own most of the tar sands now?
If China owns the US and the tar sands how can we stop them?
far from it.
the chinese only own a minority share in two companies: syncrude and CNRL Horizon. the big boys on the block are Total, Shell, Imperial(exxon), nexen and Statoil.
I am one of many Canadians opposed to the development of tar sands.
There is NOTHING good about it.
As a Canadian I encourage everyone to boycott Canadian. Our country is ruled by the Oil Industry via Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is the elected MP from the city of Calgary, Alberta. He is a weasel, a prick, and an oil executive. Canadians are by and large subservient to any corporation who hires them. I am not proud.
Since when are environmental groups "Greens"? Greens (the Green Party) have an actual platform that demand specific policy objectives, that would never allow tar sands pollution.
And lets face it until 50% of us decide to actually bicycle, walk and use public transportation and demand more public trans, the corporations will continue to do as they please. I'm carfree and challenge all of you to join me in a healthier and sustainable lifestyle!
Carfree member of the Green Party. Let's take a walk, Sandy.
Elizabeth May (Green Party of Canada) has always been very vocal about her opposition to the development of tar sands.
As Massey Energy in the US has proved, just pay the fines and it's business as usual. Only by changing our governments and elected officials, can we the people expect any meaningful change. And, we are too lazy, distracted, or whatever excuse of the moment do to the "get down and dirty work". We as a world community must inform, advise, and get out there and demand the changes we need to stop the rape of all of our countries. A daunting task, maybe we are really doomed?
I believe we have a climate scenario that will resolve this problem long-term, but for the present, the slogans carry the day.
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Live simply, that others may simply live.
Abandon repressive satisfaction. (Marcuse)
And, Oh yes--
Totalitarian
Plutocratic
StateCorporatism
Sucks
and, CORP IS BORG.
Drive past Exxon stations.
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