Animal habitats and health are affected by tar sands production, whether from loss of habitat to any of the infrastructure developments across the continent, or through changes in the atmosphere such as melting polar ice caps in the Arctic brought on by out of control C02 emissions. Poisoning waterways, the food supply and the air in the immediate and not-so immediate surroundings has led to drops and even disappearances of species near pipelines, platforms and other infrastructure of the tarsands.
Suncor ordered to test Athabasca
Oilsands giant discharged too much grease and oil into river Tuesday
By CAROL CHRISTIAN
McMurray Today staff
Suncor Energy is testing the quality of the Athabasca River after it discharged more grease and oil than allowed into the river Tuesday.
Pipeline would bring tankers into B.C. inlets
By Andrew Findlay
Georgia Straight
February 5, 2009
Where the waters of Caamano Sound squeeze into Whale Channel, four humpback whales circle in slow, languorous patterns. The whales dive, and the water above returns to calm save for a few wind ripples. Suddenly a single whale reemerges in a burst of bubbling water, mouth agape, its great baleen plates exposed and scooping up a massive mouthful of krill and small fish.
Alta. delta gets special international designation
by Margaret Munro, Canwest News Service
February 3, 2009
The Peace-Athabasca Delta in northern Alberta was declared one of the Western Hemisphere's most extraordinary and endangered places Tuesday by a leading environmental group that named the delta a "BioGem" it will campaign to save.
New rules govern cleanup of tailings ponds
KATHERINE O'NEILL
February 4, 2009
EDMONTON -- A controversial byproduct of oil-sands operations at the centre of an environmental scandal last spring involving 500 dead ducks will be subjected to tougher rules by Alberta's energy regulator.
Tailings ponds - the toxic, watery waste left over from bitumen processing - must be cleaned up and better managed under new targets and timelines for oil-sands producers.
2009 January 25 - The Integrity of Creation and the Athabasca Oil Sands
A Pastoral Letter on The Integrity of Creation and the Athabasca Oil Sands to The Faithful of the diocese of St. Paul on The Occasion of the Jubilee Year in Honour of St. Paul by
†Luc Bouchard Bishop of St. Paul in Alberta, Canada
January 25th, 2009
The Integrity of Creation and the Athabasca Oil Sands
“Faced with the widespread destruction of the environment people
everywhere are coming to understand that we cannot continue to
use the goods of the earth as we have in the past. . . a new ecological
Environmental Group Wants Enquiry into Enbridge Gateway Proposal
Sun, 2009-01-18
The Friends of the Wild Salmon Coalition is calling for a full public inquiry into Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway Project. The project, if approved would consist of two pipelines - one to transport tar-sands oil from Edmonton to Kitimat, and the other would transport condensate from Kitimat, back to Alberta. Friends of the Wild Salmon Coordinator Pat Moss says they are concerned about the location of the pipelines.
This past summer, myself and friends were able to "tour" many of the projects in the Athabasca mining region and south of Fort McMurray (one of many places) where SagD/In Situ operations rule the day. These are albums belatedly created from that trip. This does not comprise anything remotely coming towards an exhaustive set of the multiple projects.
(you do not need to have a Facebook identity to see these albums).
Photos are from the land and the air.
Opti-Nexen's Long Lake (North) Project & CP's Surmont Project.
British Columbia:
Forest Ethics induced forest die off & species extinction
Your article about Minister of Forests and Range Pat Bell (NDN, Jan.
13) stated that the Valhalla Wilderness Society has criticized the BC
government’s plan to protect the mountain caribou. Indeed it has! Most
of the so-called habitat protection was to be placed largely outside
of the areas where the habitat is being destroyed by logging. But that
was fifteen months ago. Today very little of the protection promised
has materialized, an approved plan doesn’t even exist and the
Federal government commits to Mackenzie Gas Project
JENNIFER HILLIKER, METRO CALGARY
January 19, 2009 05:49
The $16.2-billion Mackenzie Gas Project may finally go forward.
The project includes construction of a natural-gas pipeline from the Mackenzie River Delta, north of the Arctic Circle, to Alberta. It has been subject to years of delays but Environment Minister Jim Prentice announced Monday in Calgary that the federal government has made a financial offer to the backers of the project.
January 9, 2009
Youth protest against the tar sands in Fort Chipewyan
Youth from Fort Chipewyan marched through the streets to protest against the tar sands in -32 degree temperatures this afternoon.
The march was organized by 10 year old Robyn Courtoreille, who got other youth involved in the protest.
"Syncrude and Suncor have been poisioning our water, air, so we protested to let them know we want a future not cancer," said Dailen Powder, 12, after the protest.
"I was protesting because I dont want anymore deformed two jawed fish in our lake," said Cherish Kaskamin, 11.
