[R-G] Alberta oilsands refineries could cause irreversible damage: Report
Anthony Fenton
fentona at shaw.ca
Wed Oct 8 23:12:07 MDT 2008
Alberta oilsands refineries could cause irreversible damage: Report
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=929f281f-f3d4-458c-aff0-cff3c9f48da2
Jorge Barrera
Canwest News Service
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
There are currently 17 refinery projects either being 'considered,
planned, applied for, approved or developed' around the Great Lakes,
according to the report, How the Oil Sands Got to the Great Lakes,
released Wednesday.
CREDIT:
There are currently 17 refinery projects either being 'considered,
planned, applied for, approved or developed' around the Great Lakes,
according to the report, How the Oil Sands Got to the Great Lakes,
released Wednesday.
The development of a pipeline network and refineries around the Great
Lakes to process Alberta bitumen "could cause irreversible"
environmental damage to the region, says a new report that traces the
tendrils of Alberta's oilsands developments across the continent.
There are currently 17 refinery projects either being "considered,
planned, applied for, approved or developed" around the Great Lakes,
according to the report, How the Oil Sands Got to the Great Lakes,
released Wednesday.
The report, commissioned by the University of Toronto's Munk Centre
program on water issues, warns that little is known about the
environmental impact on the Great Lakes given the level of greenhouse
gas emissions and water consumption that comes with the refining
process.
"We are paying more attention at the oilsands end, but not where the
oil gets to and what happens there," said David Israelson, the
report's author. "The other big issue is climate change and this means
exponential increase in greenhouse gas emissions before you put a drop
in your car."
Dubbing it a "pollution delivery system," the report said the
thousands-kilometres-long pipeline complex used to ferry Athabasca
bitumen from source to refinery could bring "2.3 million tonnes" of
greenhouse gas emissions to the centre of North America every year.
"It will also bring new, large-scale sulphur dioxide and nitrogen
oxide emissions - the building blocks of acid rain - as well as fine
particulate matter, which is responsible for premature deaths," said
the report. "Pipeline and refinery expansion applications are being
made and approved right now with little general awareness of the
potential long-term damage to the Great Lakes environment."
Bitumen is a tar-like heavy hydrocarbon that is removed from Alberta's
oilsands and upgraded into synthetic crude oil.
Environmental groups were quick to back the report's findings. Justin
Duncan, a lawyer with Ecojustice, said the federal government needs to
revise its entire approach to oilsands development.
"We are not looking at national policies or other opportunities to
reduce demand so we don't need (the oilsands)," said Duncan.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers said they wanted to
study the report before presenting a detailed response.
"It is a complex issue that deals with economic, cross-border supply
and environmental issues," said Travis Davies, spokesman for the
association.
Israelson said the election had nothing to do with the report's
release, which had been planned in advance. However, he said
politicians could do a lot to avert environmental catastrophe on the
lakes. With the majority of the proposed refinery expansions slated
for the U.S. side of the Great Lakes - a planned expansion in Sarnia,
Ont., has been put on hold - Israelson said Canada should put
environmental conditions on exported Alberta bitumen.
"We are selling something that they want to buy, so we can put
conditions on it," said Israelson, a vice-president for a Toronto-
based public relations firm. "The prime minister has already talked
about not selling bitumen to China."
Harper in late September promised to halt the flow of bitumen to
countries with weaker greenhouse gas emission reduction standards than
Canada.
© Canwest News Service 2008
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