Scientists Find 7,300-Mile Mercury Contamination ‘Bullseye’ Around Canadian Tar Sands

[Kulindahr]

Not 27 feet of it as Mexico City has.

Twenty-seven feet of what?

 

[White Eagle]

The Natives are restless everywhere. This from CBC Canada. Native tribes are going to sue at every turn, it looks like. MOA has nothing on Tar Sands.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/alberta-oilsands-facing-aboriginal-legal-onslaught-in-2014-1.2481825

Alberta oilsands facing aboriginal legal onslaught in 2014
First Nations plans challenges of new rules for regulatory approvals of energy projects

The Canadian Press Posted: Jan 02, 2014 12:17 PM ET Last Updated: Jan 02, 2014 5:06 PM ET

Simmering disputes over the oilsands between Alberta aboriginals and the provincial and federal governments will break into the open in 2014 as virtually every one of the many recent changes in oversight of the controversial industry comes under legal and political attack.

 

[rotary]

Every new story that comes out about Tar Sands has a new disaster pending for it to continue.
Pray for us!

North America. We'll gladly let other countries pollute themselves, ship the oil to us halfway across the globe on tankers, risking ocean environments so we can continue to enjoy our conveniences but when it comes to domestic production and transportation suddenly it's NO NO NO too dangerous. Keystone, no. Northern gateway, no. Constructing a line east, no. So let's continue shipping it on rail with derailments occuring every week? Oil development in Alberta is not going to stop, how long are we going to twiddle thumbs before doing something?

The lack of cooperation between governments here is mindblowing. Build the pipelines.

 

[Kulindahr]

North America. We'll gladly let other countries pollute themselves, ship the oil to us halfway across the globe on tankers, risking ocean environments so we can continue to enjoy our conveniences but when it comes to domestic production and transportation suddenly it's NO NO NO too dangerous. Keystone, no. Northern gateway, no. Constructing a line east, no. So let's continue shipping it on rail with derailments occuring every week? Oil development in Alberta is not going to stop, how long are we going to twiddle thumbs before doing something?

The lack of cooperation between governments here is mindblowing. Build the pipelines.

I keep repeating that to MoveOn.org and all the other places that keep trying to stop the pipeline. Yes, our pipeline technology leaves a lot to be desired -- but it's still far safer than putting it in tanks rolling on wheels.

 

[rotary]

I keep repeating that to MoveOn.org and all the other places that keep trying to stop the pipeline. Yes, our pipeline technology leaves a lot to be desired -- but it's still far safer than putting it in tanks rolling on wheels.

Which roll through the middle of cities. And explode.

 

[Kulindahr]

Which roll through the middle of cities. And explode.

The exploding part is beyond chilling. I suspect there are some things about the chemistry of this crap that will lead to new insights in organic/petroleum chemistry.

In a cheap science fiction story, it would lead to a new, powerful energy source....

 

[72-Jay]

One thing that doesn't make sense is something I've never even heard mentioned when seeing a news story on the Canadian Tar Sands:

Why not just build a refinery in Alberta?
Wouldn't that be a lot easier and cheaper than doing thousands of miles of pipeline?
(Yeah I know the 'finished products' would still need to be transported, but still it seems pointless to send it all the way to Texas, process it there, then ship it to wherever it needs to go. When it could be processed right there in Alberta, and then sent right to wherever it needs to go)

 

[bankside]

One thing that doesn't make sense is something I've never even heard mentioned when seeing a news story on the Canadian Tar Sands:

Why not just build a refinery in Alberta?
Wouldn't that be a lot easier and cheaper than doing thousands of miles of pipeline?
(Yeah I know the 'finished products' would still need to be transported, but still it seems pointless to send it all the way to Texas, process it there, then ship it to wherever it needs to go. When it could be processed right there in Alberta, and then sent right to wherever it needs to go)

Mostly because there is a lot of investment from US corporations in the oilsands. They are more interested in supplying the refineries they already own, than building new ones here. Our government is more interested in using oil royalties to solve their problems (i.e. getting re-elected by spending our own money on impressing us) than in ensuring the resource is developed to our advantage. So they give these foreign corporations a pass and ship our resources out to the lowest bidder.

 

[Kulindahr]

One thing that doesn't make sense is something I've never even heard mentioned when seeing a news story on the Canadian Tar Sands:

Why not just build a refinery in Alberta?
Wouldn't that be a lot easier and cheaper than doing thousands of miles of pipeline?
(Yeah I know the 'finished products' would still need to be transported, but still it seems pointless to send it all the way to Texas, process it there, then ship it to wherever it needs to go. When it could be processed right there in Alberta, and then sent right to wherever it needs to go)

Some of it may end up being sent to China...

But I agree it would make sense to build a refinery closer to the source -- especially since if the US buys a lot of that oil, much will be sent to the Gulf and then trucked back north to where it will be used as fuel. If nothing else, a refinery in South Dakota would make sense; even though there's a refinery in Illinois, a good deal of its product gets shipped back west, so a South Dakota refinery would help distribute the load.

The big problem with building a refinery in the US, though, is that regulatory resistance just doesn't want any -- period. The only way around that would be for President Obama to order one built on federal property, such as an unused military base... and there happens to be one by Rapid City -- which would not be too great a divergence from the proposed XL route. One benefit of that is it would reduce the amount of syncrude being pumped through Nebraska, which is still, last I knew, objecting.