SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Tar Sands Crude Spill in Alberta Leaves Albertans in Toxic Wake Again
Second oil spill in two weeks for Canadian province
Jun 20, 2012
Alberta's second oil spill in two weeks casts further doubts on the safety of tar sands.
On Monday 230,000 liters of tar sands crude spilled at a pumping station near Elk Point, Alberta along Enbridge's Athabasca pipeline, causing the pipeline to shut down temporarily.
The province's Energy Resources Conservation Board spokesperson Darin Barter said, "It's a significant size spill." And highlighting the problems of immediate action in the aftermath of an oil spill, Barter said he only found out about the spill from media reports, and added, "I don't think anybody in the county, at this point, has been notified," he said.
Greenpeace spokesperson Mike Hudema said of the news, "Once again Albertans are left to deal with the toxic effects of yet another pipeline spill in Alberta." Noting this is not the first oil spill to hit Albertans, Hudema added, "How many spills does it take before Alberta Premier Alison Redford does something to protect our water and all our communities?
Enbridge is currently attempting to build it Northern Gateway pipeline to carry tar sands crude from Ft. Murray, Alberta to the Pacific coast, a plan contested by indigenous and conservation groups.
* * *
The Edmonton Journal: Elk Point pipeline spill releases 230,000 litres of heavy crude: Enbridge
EDMONTON - Cleanup is underway after an oil spill Monday along Enbridge's Athabasca pipeline, southeast of Elk Point, the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board says.
The company estimates about 230,000 litres of heavy crude oil spilled from a pumping station along the surface pipeline about 24 kilometres southeast of Elk Point, the board said Tuesday.
The spill was reported to the appropriate agencies on Monday, said ERCB spokesman Darin Barter. [...]
Greenpeace spokesman Mike Hudema said in a statement the spill underscores the need for a safety assessment of Alberta's pipelines.
"At minimum we need an independent assessment of Alberta's pipeline safety to show the deficits in management, oversight, enforcement and infrastructure."
* * *
CBC News: Officials investigate another Alberta pipeline leak
Earlier this month the oil company Plains Midstream Canada announced that 475,000 litres of oil had spilled into Alberta's Red Deer River and a water reservoir downstream of the leak.
And in May, Calgary-based Pace Oil and Gas announced a spill after it was spotted during a flyover in a remote muskeg area of northwestern Alberta, about 20 kilometres southeast of Rainbow Lake.
The spill affected an area about 500 metres long by 200 metres wide, said Fred Woods, president and CEO of Pace Oil and Gas Ltd.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Alberta's second oil spill in two weeks casts further doubts on the safety of tar sands.
On Monday 230,000 liters of tar sands crude spilled at a pumping station near Elk Point, Alberta along Enbridge's Athabasca pipeline, causing the pipeline to shut down temporarily.
The province's Energy Resources Conservation Board spokesperson Darin Barter said, "It's a significant size spill." And highlighting the problems of immediate action in the aftermath of an oil spill, Barter said he only found out about the spill from media reports, and added, "I don't think anybody in the county, at this point, has been notified," he said.
Greenpeace spokesperson Mike Hudema said of the news, "Once again Albertans are left to deal with the toxic effects of yet another pipeline spill in Alberta." Noting this is not the first oil spill to hit Albertans, Hudema added, "How many spills does it take before Alberta Premier Alison Redford does something to protect our water and all our communities?
Enbridge is currently attempting to build it Northern Gateway pipeline to carry tar sands crude from Ft. Murray, Alberta to the Pacific coast, a plan contested by indigenous and conservation groups.
* * *
The Edmonton Journal: Elk Point pipeline spill releases 230,000 litres of heavy crude: Enbridge
EDMONTON - Cleanup is underway after an oil spill Monday along Enbridge's Athabasca pipeline, southeast of Elk Point, the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board says.
The company estimates about 230,000 litres of heavy crude oil spilled from a pumping station along the surface pipeline about 24 kilometres southeast of Elk Point, the board said Tuesday.
The spill was reported to the appropriate agencies on Monday, said ERCB spokesman Darin Barter. [...]
Greenpeace spokesman Mike Hudema said in a statement the spill underscores the need for a safety assessment of Alberta's pipelines.
"At minimum we need an independent assessment of Alberta's pipeline safety to show the deficits in management, oversight, enforcement and infrastructure."
* * *
CBC News: Officials investigate another Alberta pipeline leak
Earlier this month the oil company Plains Midstream Canada announced that 475,000 litres of oil had spilled into Alberta's Red Deer River and a water reservoir downstream of the leak.
And in May, Calgary-based Pace Oil and Gas announced a spill after it was spotted during a flyover in a remote muskeg area of northwestern Alberta, about 20 kilometres southeast of Rainbow Lake.
The spill affected an area about 500 metres long by 200 metres wide, said Fred Woods, president and CEO of Pace Oil and Gas Ltd.
Alberta's second oil spill in two weeks casts further doubts on the safety of tar sands.
On Monday 230,000 liters of tar sands crude spilled at a pumping station near Elk Point, Alberta along Enbridge's Athabasca pipeline, causing the pipeline to shut down temporarily.
The province's Energy Resources Conservation Board spokesperson Darin Barter said, "It's a significant size spill." And highlighting the problems of immediate action in the aftermath of an oil spill, Barter said he only found out about the spill from media reports, and added, "I don't think anybody in the county, at this point, has been notified," he said.
Greenpeace spokesperson Mike Hudema said of the news, "Once again Albertans are left to deal with the toxic effects of yet another pipeline spill in Alberta." Noting this is not the first oil spill to hit Albertans, Hudema added, "How many spills does it take before Alberta Premier Alison Redford does something to protect our water and all our communities?
Enbridge is currently attempting to build it Northern Gateway pipeline to carry tar sands crude from Ft. Murray, Alberta to the Pacific coast, a plan contested by indigenous and conservation groups.
* * *
The Edmonton Journal: Elk Point pipeline spill releases 230,000 litres of heavy crude: Enbridge
EDMONTON - Cleanup is underway after an oil spill Monday along Enbridge's Athabasca pipeline, southeast of Elk Point, the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board says.
The company estimates about 230,000 litres of heavy crude oil spilled from a pumping station along the surface pipeline about 24 kilometres southeast of Elk Point, the board said Tuesday.
The spill was reported to the appropriate agencies on Monday, said ERCB spokesman Darin Barter. [...]
Greenpeace spokesman Mike Hudema said in a statement the spill underscores the need for a safety assessment of Alberta's pipelines.
"At minimum we need an independent assessment of Alberta's pipeline safety to show the deficits in management, oversight, enforcement and infrastructure."
* * *
CBC News: Officials investigate another Alberta pipeline leak
Earlier this month the oil company Plains Midstream Canada announced that 475,000 litres of oil had spilled into Alberta's Red Deer River and a water reservoir downstream of the leak.
And in May, Calgary-based Pace Oil and Gas announced a spill after it was spotted during a flyover in a remote muskeg area of northwestern Alberta, about 20 kilometres southeast of Rainbow Lake.
The spill affected an area about 500 metres long by 200 metres wide, said Fred Woods, president and CEO of Pace Oil and Gas Ltd.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy