GreenWatch

B. McPherson If You Build It, It Will Leak The oil pipeline company that is lobbying to build an oil pipeline through British Columbia has had a leak of one of its major pipeline systems. Line 37 which serves as a link from the Alberta Oil Sands to Hardesty Alberta, has had to be shut down after a leak was discovered near Fort McMurray. The company estimates that between 500 and 750 barrels of oil escaped containment. There is speculation that the record breaking rainfall in Alberta may have caused the sodden earth to shift, breaking the pipeline. A crew will have to be dispatched to the scene for confirmation. There is the danger, that other pipelines which criss-cross the province will fail in the aftermath of the widespread flooding. Early in the epic floods, a sour gas pipeline ruptured near the town of Black Diamond in the Turner Valley. Enbridge is unable to communicate with the media efficiently at this time because their head office is in downtown Calgary which r...

B. McPherson Foreign companies and countries(China) control much of Canada's oil industry Today the northern BC town of Prince Rupert hosted the panel hearing concerns and information about the effect of increased oil tanker traffic on the BC coast if the Enbridge Gateway pipelines are allowed to be built. It is estimated that over 200 supertankers will ply the treacherous coastline to carry oil sands product to Asia. The hearings are expected to continue in Rupert until December 17. To help underline the hazards of big ships and the ocean, a tanker limped into the Rupert harbour on the 6 th with a crack in the hull. It is expected to be repaired and out on the water within a week. Further south, at Westshore Terminals, the big coal terminal, a freighter slammed into the trestle and coal loading facility destroying about 100 meters. The ship is reported to have had a pilot on board when the accident happened. Fortunately only coal tumbled into the ocean with this i...

B. McPherson The following letter was passed on to me via email. If the figures are even remotely accurate, the BC taxpayers will be on the hook to subsidize the largely foreign owned oil companies in their efforts to export oil to Asia. So how does this work? Give the oil transport corporations like Enbridge and KinderMorgan a low rate for the electricity needed to keep the oil and bitumen warm enough to flow. In the meantime, charge increasing rates to homeowners for their needs. Then tell the public we're short of electricity and dam yet another river valley and increase taxes to pay for it. Joe and Jane Shmuck get to have a scar carved through the Great Bear Rainforest, risk extinction of the endangered woodland caribou, gamble with the jobs and health of the environment of the coastline and still get to pay for the privilege of having foreign corporations reap massive profits. Sounds like big business to me. Pipeline Will Suck Up Hydro Power ...

B. McPherson Have a look at the video and see for yourself what an amazing place this is. The proposed Enbridge oil pipeline through the Great Bear Rain Forest endangers rare habitat. The prospect of hundreds of supertankers threading their way through the tortuous Douglas Channel gives coastal people nightmares. An anonymous person has offered to donate Cdn$1 to ForestEthic s for every signature on the petition to fight the big money behind the pipeline proposal.  Please read and sign: Greetings Lavonne, Great news! I’ve been flooded with excited calls and emails from groups as far away as Squamish, Gabriola Island and Victoria coming to join our Monday rally to stop the Enbridge pipeline and tanker project. Now, I need your help to make sure support for this rally spreads across Canada. To do that we need your friends' signatures on our petition. (We've got yours, THANKS!) Please help us reach our goal of 10,000 signatures opposing th...

By B. McPherson Fracking for natural gas in the fields outside of Innisfail, Alberta, has seen a spectacular result. A pumpjack in a farmer’s field suddenly started spewing a black liquid into the air. Fracking fluid, nitrogen and oil from the well were sprayed onto the field. Crews are attempting to clean up the mess. Chief Executive for the fracking company, Midway Energy, Scott Ratushny was quoted in the Calgary Herald: “ Approximately 50 cubic metres of oil, fracturing fluid, nitrogen and sand were spilled on the surface and have been recovered from the site, Ratushny said.”  "We have drilled over 40 wells in the Cardium in the region without any incidents," Ratushny said. "We've never seen this before." Calgary Herald Fracking has become a hot environmental issue as the pace of this technology has increased exponentially in the past few years. The search for natural gas – the clean fuel – has corporations fracturing rock formations with e...

By B. McPherson The Costa Concordia holed and resting precariously on a submerged shelf in shallow water may slip off and sink. The fuel tanks of the doomed vessel are full of bunker fuel, a thick form of petroleum that needs to be heated to make it flow. 2 300 metric tonnes(2 530 US tons) will leak into the Mediterranean Sea if measures to pump the oil out fail. Unidentified liquid has been seen leaking from the ship and booms are being placed around it. Floating booms and skimmers are less effective in rough waters which hit the area today forcing a suspension of the search for those still missing from the disaster. The area where the ship rests is featured in tourist literature exhorting people to “travel Tuscany”. The island of Giglio is surrounded by healthy, clean water. The following is from a tourist blurb about the island. “The Isola del Giglio is one of the most "beautiful children in Tuscany", as they are called in the popular language. Giglio...