Alberta Tar Sands is a category limited to the location and production of tar sand bitumen, an area the size of the state of Florida in northern Alberta province. The giant processing plants near Fort McMurray where the land itself is strip mined as well as the primarily "in situ" in-ground steam separation/production and extraction plants in the Peace and Cold Lake Regions, all in Alberta, are the "Ground Zero" of the single largest industrial gigaproject ever proposed in human history.
The process of removing the tar from the sand involves incredible amounts of energy from clean-burning natural gas (with nuclear proposed along side), tremendous capital costs during build up, incredibly high petroleum prices to protect investments, and the largest single industrial contribution to climate change in North America. Production also involves the waste of fresh water from nearby lakes, rivers and aquifers that have already created toxic tailing ponds visible from outer space. None of the land strip mined has yet to be certified as reclaimed. It takes 4 tonnes of soil to produce one barrel of oil. The tar sands are producing over 1.2 million barrels of oil a day on average. The oil companies, Canada and the United States governments are proposing to escalate production to 5 million barrels, almost all destined for American markets-- and lower environmental standards while doing so. They also would need to violate the national and human rights of many indigenous nations who are rightly concerned about many dire social, environmental and economic repercussions on their communities.
To get the needed energy supplies, diluent for the bitumen and diverted freshwater to produce and then to transport the flowing heavy bitumen for refining would require massive new infrastructure and pipeline building from three different time zones in the Arctic, across British Columbia and through Alberta in a criss-cross pattern, into pipelines to such destinations as California, China, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Ontario, Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas. This entire project is now estimated at over $170 billion dollars. And after the whole process described so far, only then will all this dirty petroleum get burned and expel greenhouse gasses into the air causing further climate change.
Oilsands proposal draws protest
Joslyn North mine. Total E&P makes green promises
By MIKE DE SOUZA, Postmedia News August 24, 2010
A battle is brewing over a proposed oilsands project by a French-based company that has drawn more than two dozen opponents from Canada, the U.S. and France at today's deadline for submissions to a joint federal-provincial environmental review panel.
12 arrested in Camp for Climate Action protests in Edinburgh
By Gemma Fox.
Digital Journal
August 23, 2010
Edinburgh - Protesting against one particular bank and their investments in the oil, coal and gas industries, Camp for Climate Action arrived in Edinburgh on August 19 to begin training and protesting against the actions of RBS, the Royal Bank of Scotland.
How the Tar Sands Threaten Canada's Economic Fate
A short course in Dutch Disease, deindustrialization and the Bitumen Curse.
By Andrew Nikiforuk, 13 Aug 2010, TheTyee.ca
Every week Canada's least favorite Emir, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach, earnestly lectures Canadians that the mighty tar sands are a boon to the national economy because "Alberta's engine drives Canada."
First ever 'Tar Sands Healing Walk' voices of concerned citizens
By Kyle Ashmead.
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Fort Mcmurray - A "Tar Sand Healing Walk" was held in Fort MacMurray, AB, Canada. On August 14th, 2010.
The first of its kind in the tar sands region of Alberta.
Hunger strikers seek money for women’s shelter in Fort McMurray
Victims of domestic violence in the oil-sands boomtown have few places to go, forcing many to return home to their abusers
Josh Wingrove Edmonton— From Monday's Globe and Mail
Sunday, Aug. 15, 2010
When Fort McMurray’s only women’s shelter was built nearly 30 years ago, the city had a population of about 30,000 and oil sands production was in its infancy.
Unfortunately for all of us and not just the venerable Ms Yaffe, this is not in fact, true. The plans of Kinder Morgan, et al to pump more and more tar sands bitumen via a pipeline through the Rocky Mountains and down into Vancouver (Burnaby) to both bolster a Chevron and perhaps a Shell refinery there, while loading up tankers in the Vancouver Burrard Inlet to ship out to places both near (California) and far (Asia) has been touted as "making Gateway redundant". Tar Sands bitumen shipments from the Burrard Inlet is not a victory.
Beautiful destruction disturbs and enchants
Thursday,
05 August 2010
Centretown News
Imagine a world of swirling technicolour among unearthly vistas of an unfathomable scale, without any obvious signs of flora or fauna.
While it seems like a description of a fantastic land like those of Tolkien or Star Trek, photographer Louis Helbig exposes these landscapes as those of the Canadian hinterland in Northern Alberta.
Canada's energy industry
Tarred with the same brush
The Gulf spill has focused American minds on pollution from Canadian oil producers. But cleaning up the tar sands will not be easy
Aug 5th 2010 | ottawa
The Economist
Oil-Sands Mining in Canada Creates Mercury, Arsenic Pollution, Globe Says
By James Kraus - Aug 10, 2010
Bloomberg
Canada’s oil sands mining operations are producing vast and fast-growing amounts of mercury, heavy metals, arsenic and other toxic substances, the Globe and Mail reported, citing data released by Environment Canada.
The volume of arsenic and lead produced and left behind in talings ponds by bitumen mines run by Syncrude Canada Ltd, Suncor Energy Inc. Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc rose 26 percent, the newspaper reported.
Aecon Group adds Alberta oil sands contractor
Eric Lam, Financial Post
Aug. 9, 2010
TORONTO -- Toronto-based Aecon Group Inc. said Monday it has offered to purchase the assets of Alberta oil sands contracting services business Cow Harbour Construction Ltd., currently under creditor protection, for $180-million.
If approved, Aecon would become one of the largest mining and land reclamation contractors in the oil sands. It is already the largest construction and infrastructure development company in Canada.
