GreenWatch

B. McPherson Neil Young, Canadian songwriter and performer, has kicked off a four part concert tour in aid of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in their fight to defend their treaty rights. The tour, Honour the Treaties, held its first concert to a sold out crowd in Toronto. Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary will follow. The Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation is front and centre in the ever expanding Alberta Oil Sands mining operation. Shell Oil, a foreign owned corporation, has been granted permission by the federal government to expand its mining operations in the Jackpine area in spite of an environmental report stating that it will cause irreversible harm to the environment. The damage already done to the delicate northern environment is already extensive. The strip mine that uncovers the tarry sands can easily be spotted from space. While ads by various oil companies mining the sands feature actors touting the reclamation successes, most of the area is a wasteland of to...

B. McPherson The biggest petroleum pipeline corporation in Canada, Enbridge, has safety deficiencies in 117 out of 125 pump stations across Canada according to the National Energy Safety Board. It is a requirement that each pump station have emergency power backup to operate shut-down procedures. You may recall that it took Enbridge hours to shut down the pipe spewing bitumen into the Kalamazoo River. Eight stations across the country complied with that safety regulation. Of the 125 stations inspected, 83 lacked an emergency shut-down button. These regulations have been in place for at least 14 years. The regulation requiring an emergency shut-down button has been on the books since 1994. For its part, spokesman for the pipeline company, Graham White, said that it is a matter of interpretation of the rules. Battery power was in place at the stations, but this is deemed insufficient. The corporation has since installed the emergency equipment and is working towards com...

B. McPherson What happens to all the abandoned pipelines? Oil pipelines have huge direct costs to build, but they also have many hidden costs. In spite of dire warnings by environmentalist the world is demanding ever greater supplies of the black gold. For those countries that have it and market it successfully, money comes rolling in. But at what cost? An oil pipeline is a hugely complex thing. Enbridge Corp. has been battling citizens in British Columbia over its proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline and the Keystone Pipeline in the US has been stalled for months. When Big Oil needs to transport oil or bitumen to refineries, it usually gets a smooth ride to approval. Labelling energy security as a national priority, property rights are infringed upon. People in Canada cannot legally stop the installation of a pipeline across their property. The high pressure conduit is often buried only a few feet below the surface leaving crops, buildings and livestock vulnerable to a ...

B. McPherson Enbridge wants us to believe that their pipelines are safe. This one hasn't leaked -- yet. It lies exposed in an Ontario river. Enbridge has applied to the National Energy Board to allow it to reverse the flow of oil in its Line 9 pipeline. Between Sarnia and Montreal, the company wants to be able to ship Alberta oil to the Suncor refinery in Montreal. It is being touted as a move to achieve energy security for Canada. Canada imports about half the oil used in the country while at the same time shipping oil south to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Others are not so enthusiastic about the plan. Enbridge has admitted that they might want to ship oil sands bitumen through Line 9 at a later date. The bitumen is loaded with sand and will have a sandpaper effect on the inside of the pipes. Currently, the 60 year old conduit has only carried sweet, light petroleum. Some are even more outspoken. A former employee is quoted on CBC who thinks this is a revival of ...

B. McPherson While the Canadian federal government is pushing hard for a speedy approval process to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project opposition to the scheme is gathering organization and force. Today the Financial Post is referring to the project as being in a “legal swamp”. The proposed pipeline would transport bitumen from Alberta’s oil sands extraction to the British Columbia coast for shipment to markets in Asia. The proposed route would track through the Great Bear Rainforest, an area that National Geographic calls the wildest place on earth. It is home to rare ecosystems and the unique Kermode Bear. The terminal of the pipelines would end at Kitimat at the end of Douglas Channel. An estimated 200 super-tankers would navigate the treacherous waters each year. Enbridge spokespersons have assured the public that the chances of a spill are very low. Oil tankers transporting crude from Alaska to the lower US states travel far off BC’s coast in order to avoid the num...

B. McPherson Skeena Queen Charlotte Regional District has joined others in opposing the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. The regional district provides government services to the residents. They join many others living on the coast of British Columbia who are opposed to the build out of the twin pipelines that would carry Alberta Oil Sands petroleum from Edmonton to the village of Kitimat. Jennifer Rice, a Prince Rupert councillor, said in a statement. "Any effort to ram this project through will be a direct attack on our First Nations, the fishing industry and other coastal economies. We encourage development, but the risks are too great with this particular proposal." CNews The pipeline if built would carry bitumen from Alberta to waiting supertankers which would supply petroleum products to the Asian markets. At build out it is expected that about 200 supertankers would ply the treacherous waters leading up the channel to Kitimat.  The propose...

By B. McPherson                                                                                                                           ** The first day of hearings in Edmonton regarding the proposed building of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipelines which would carry oil sand product to Kitimat through the Great Bear Rain Forest saw protesters to the project. Members of the Cree First Nations drummed and chanted their displeasure at the idea of oil pipelines through their traditional territories. Chanting "Shut down tarsands!" the activists held placards with messages such as: "Green jobs not corporate $lobs." Vancouver Sun The hearings in Edmonton were the latest...

By B. McPherson This is some of the environment that would be put at risk with oil tankers traversing the treacherous seaways. Native elders and chiefs spoke in Kitimaat Village today regarding the proposed routing of the Gateway twinned pipelines through the Great Bear Rain Forest to the west coast of British Columbia. One of the Chiefs who spoke today expressed concern regarding the routing of the pipeline, likening the risk to his people as a double-barrelled shotgun. Pipeline spills through the sensitive land area plus the hundreds of oil laden tankers threading their way through the twisted canal leading to the town of Kitimat are very real dangers to the pristine environment. The Haisla are facing a double-barrelled shotgun by the bringing of that oil by pipeline and shipping it by sea," Hereditary Chief Ken Hall told the opening day of environmental hearings into the project. "The pipeline threatens our grandchildren," he said Tuesday. "It...

By B. McPherson Hearings are scheduled to start in Kitimat, BC, to hear the public speak about their interest in the proposed Enbridge Gateway Pipeline that is proposed to dig its way through the Great Bear Rain Forest to bring crude oil from the Alberta oil sands to the BC coast at the end of Douglas Channel. The Calgary based company has proposed the construction of twin pipelines that would snake from outside of Edmonton to the village of Kitimat. One pipeline would carry crude oil west while the second pipeline would carry the solvent needed to make the crude flow, east for reuse. Enbridge is the same company that has its megaproject in the US stalled, the Keystone Pipeline. The proposed route through British Columbia is a poor choice because it targets the untouched temperate rain forest, it ends at the head of a tortuous fiord, and many of the native land claims involving this land have yet to be settled. Prime Minister Harper has stated that a pipeline ...