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Drinking water measures could be in place for months due to oil spill: official
Communities affected by an oil spill in the North Saskatchewan River can expect precautionary drinking water measures to be in place for weeks or even months, says a Saskatchewan government official.
"It's not going to be a short-term event," Sam Ferris with Saskatchewan's Water Security Agency said Monday.
"It could go on for some time."
Two cities downstream from the Husky Energy pipeline leak near Maidstone, Sask., have stopped drawing water from the river.
North Battleford shut down its intake on Friday and is relying on a limited supply from wells.
Officials say the oily plume reached Prince Albert, a city of 35,000 people, on Monday....
Muskoday First Nation declares emergency over water supply
After four days of being shut off from its normal supply of water due to an oil spill into the North Saskatchewan River, the Muskoday First Nation has declared a state of emergency.
The move was announced Wednesday afternoon when officials said the "discontinued supply of water" required "prompt action."
About 800 band members live on the reserve, which is about 15 kilometres south of Prince Albert, Sask. The community is one of several in the area which is connected to a rural water utility that is normally supplied from Prince Albert's water treatment plant....
Environmentalists target Atlantic oilsands tanker ban to block TransCanada pipeline
Major Canadian and U.S. environmental groups say Atlantic whales would be threatened by increased oil tanker traffic and are aiming for tanker restrictions as part of their latest effort to block a major pipeline proposed by energy giant TransCanada Corp.
quote:
Fin and Right Whales among species at risk
Pipeline and oil companies say the project would be a safe way to help the industry expand and create jobs. Environmentalists from U.S.-based Natural Resources Defense Council, Oil Change International, Greenpeace and Canadian groups such as Quebec-based Équiterre and Toronto-based Environmental Defence disagree, arguing that environmental risks are too high for sensitive coastal areas and iconic species such as the North Atlantic Right Whale and the Fin Whale.
They say that the new pipeline and resulting tanker traffic would increase the risk of catastrophic spills, tanker-animal collisions or deafining ocean noise that could harm these species.
"We have been talking to marine mammal experts, who are very worried," said Steven Guilbeault, a senior director at Équiterre.
Editorials Good luck selling pipelines now
quote:
The news from Maidstone was not reassuring. Husky learned it was spilling oil when people saw the oil slick on the surface of the North Saskatchewan. By then, 200,000 or 250,000 litres had spilled, the company estimated, a small spill by industry standards. Enbridge, by comparison, spilled 20,000 barrels (about 3 million litres) into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan in 2010.
Even so, Husky’s containment booms were not able to stop the oil from moving eastward in the powerful current of the North Saskatchewan. North Battleford switched to ground water sources and told its people to reduce water consumption. Prince Albert laid a 30 kilometre hose across country to the South Saskatchewan River, closed all laundromats and car-washes and told its people to stop watering their lawns.
Kinder-Morgan and TransCanada have to persuade provincial governments, First Nations and towns along their proposed routes their pipelines will be different from Husky’s line at Maidstone and Enbridge’s line in Michigan. They won’t rupture and they won’t leak but if they do, the companies will know about it right away and turn off the flow immediately. Even if the oil keeps spilling, they know how to deploy containment booms and prevent the oil from spreading.
This case will be difficult to make to people who are paying attention to Husky’s experience in Maidstone.
Spills happening at a rate of about 2 per day in Saskatchewan: researcher
quote:
University of Regina researcher Emily Eaton runs an independent website that tracks oil impact. Eaton said that there have been 8,000 spills in Saskatchewan since 2006 (about 17 per cent involved Husky Energy).
Eaton notes that the spills relate to oil, salt water, natural gas and other fluids used by the oil industry.
Smaller pipelines, she said, are the provincial government's responsibility.
"The province should and could do a lot more," said Eaton.
Eaton said the province does not have enough inspectors....
First Nations in Manitoba keep wary eye on Saskatchewan oil spill
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs calls for boycott of Husky Energy
First Nations in Manitoba are keeping a nervous eye on a massive slick that's slowly spreading eastward on the North Saskatchewan River, after a pipeline owned by Husky Energy leaked more than 200,000 litres of oil on July 21.
That spill, which originated near Maidstone, Sask. has already passed through several First Nation communities, including the Muskoday First Nation, which declared a state of emergency after being shut off from its normal water supply for four days.
"The waters of the North Saskatchewan River eventually flow into the Saskatchewan River, which flows into Manitoba near the Opaskwayak Cree Nation and into Lake Winnipeg at Grand Rapids near the Chemawawin and Misipawistik Cree Nations," stated Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Grand Chief Sheila North Wilson in a press release...
Pipeline whistleblower calls for public inquiry after Husky alters oil spill report
Former pipeline engineer and whistleblower Evan Vokes is calling for a public inquiry into the operations and engineering of all Canadian oil and gas companies after Husky Energy altered a report about its response to the Saskatchewan oil spill.
Vokes, who blew the whistle on TransCanada in 2012, said Canadians deserve answers about why pipelines are leaking and blowing up, despite industry claims that its infrastructure is safe. He said an inquiry could help shed light on some of the mysteries, much like the recent public hearings in Quebec held to root out corruption in the construction industry.
Calgary-based Husky Energy initially reported it had detected the pipeline leak that spilled around 1,572 barrels of oil into the North Saskatchewan River about 14 hours before responding to the disaster and informing provincial authorities. On Thursday, it submitted a new report saying it only discovered the leak about 30 minutes before it notified the provincial regulator.
quote:
Vokes has long alleged that many energy companies are cutting corners on engineering rules, putting public safety at risk. The federal regulator, the National Energy Board (NEB) confirmed in 2014 that several of his allegations of violations at TransCanada were valid.
"This is a very big deal," Vokes said, referring to the latest incident affecting Saskatchewan. "If everything was in place that they talk about (to ensure safety) then how did it happen? Obviously someone is not telling the truth. It didn't just happen, it wasn't magical."
Any environmental review that approves a pipeline today is corrupt because oil companies have shown themselves to be untrustworthy in their assurances of safety. Aside from that they are apparently failing to clean up their closed wells. Any reputable review of pipeline proposals must include the company's history and current compliance with all environmental regulations in all aspects of their business.
Husky Energy Spill in Saskatchewan Exposes Major Flaws in Pipeline Monitoring and Cleanup
quote:
Could Be Months Before North Battleford and Prince Albert Can Draw Water
So here we are.
Some 100,000 litres of the spill have been collected so far. Nobody seems to know how much of the oil has mixed with sediment in the river and sunk. The spill has travelled about 500 km downstream. It may be months before North Battleford and Prince Albert can draw water from the river again; the latter just built a 30 km pipeline to transport water from the South Saskatchewan River.
But we are supposed to trust that pipeline companies will do it better next time.
And that’s maybe the greatest irony. In the days after the spill, industry defenders argued that the spill was tiny. Equivalent to one-tenth of an Olympic size swimming pool. Just a blip on the radar of the amount of oil that’s safely transported across the continent every day.
Yet Husky hasn’t been able to contain it; in fact, it’s completely flubbed the task, instead attempting to spread misinformation about when the spill actually happened.
The provincial government has delivered no meaningful public response besides an assurance that pipelines are better than rail for transporting oil. And as usual, Indigenous communities — many of whose members continue to rely on the land and waters for sustenance — are bearing the brunt of the damages.
Martine Ouellet wants to block Energy East pipeline if elected
Hydro-Québec chose sidelines at pipeline hearings. Then its lawyer joined TransCanada
Critics are accusing Quebec’s powerhouse Crown utility of bending over backwards for the oil industry.
Why, they ask, would Hydro-Québec sit on the sidelines during upcoming federal hearings to review of a huge pipeline project when the utility itself warned that TransCanada's proposed Energy East pipeline could threaten Quebec's electricity supply?
The controversy has been inflamed by revelations that one of Hydro-Québec's lawyers jumped to TransCanada and news that Ontario's Hydro One requested to be a full participant in the hearings. Critics say that Hydro-Québec is abandoning its responsibility to both landowners and customers and they question whether the process has been rigged to get the pipeline approved.
The criticism comes following the release of formal correspondence from both Hydro One in Ontario and Hydro-Québec to the federal regulator. The letters from the utility companies, posted on the website of Canada's National Energy Board, warned that Calgary-based TransCanada Corp’s continent-sized pipeline project could disrupt electricity supplies for millions of people in central Canada.
Former BC Hydro CEO Marc Eliesen said that Hydro-Québec's decision is puzzling.
"I’m astounded that they are not an intervenor," Eliesen told National Observer in an interview. "The interests of any utility and particular, the number one utility in the province of Quebec is so significant with respect to major energy infrastructure projects… You would have thought that... Hydro-Québec would ensure that they would look after their ratepayers' interests.".....
Wow! Great find, epaulo (and Mike de Souza). I haven't seen or heard this reported yet by any media here. This is extremely bad news, and I wonder who's behind this.
The good news is that they have been caught. The other good news is that it doesn't matter if all the governments approve the project the people of Quebec will not allow it to go through because it is a really phenomenally bad idea. After what is going on in Saskatchewan it boggles the mind that you think EE or any of the pipelines through BC will be accepted by the people of BC or Quebec. If this were up to politicians the pipelines would have been built during Harper's reign.
..txs unionist. de souza seem to have some great connections and he really digs for his stories. i'm seriously conscidering subscribing to the national observer.
Not only Charest. Energy East panel held private meetings with Quebec business leaders
It wasn't just former Quebec premier Jean Charest who met privately with the National Energy Board chairman, panelists and other federal officials during a series of controversial meetings last year to chat about the Energy East pipeline.
Documents released to National Observer by the NEB show that the federal energy regulator also met with prominent Montreal business leaders about the pipeline review in January 2015. The NEB, a federal court and law enforcement agency, is not supposed to engage in these types of discussions to avoid compromising the integrity and fairness of federal hearings.
The bombshell revelations come from internal emails and notes released by the NEB this week that prompted it to apologize for making false and misleading statements in July about the meetings. The NEB had told National Observer last month that its representatives had not engaged in any discussions about TransCanada Corp’s 4,500-kilometre Energy East pipeline project during its trip to Montreal....
NDP calls on lobbying czar to expand Charest pipeline probe
Scathing new revelations have prompted federal New Democrats to call for an expanded probe into former premier Jean Charest’s private discussions with pipeline regulators.
NDP ethics critic Alexandre Boulerice sent a new letter this week asking the federal lobbying commissioner to examine exactly what happened in January 2015, when Charest met with five representatives of the National Energy Board, including two who are now sitting on a three-member panel reviewing TransCanada Corp’s Energy East pipeline project.
His calls for an expanded inquiry are based on new evidence uncovered last week by National Observer.
At the time of the meeting, Charest was under contract with TransCanada as a consultant, but he was not registered as a lobbyist. Both he and the NEB have denied that any lobbying took place during the meeting, held at the Montreal offices of Charest's law firm, McCarthy Tétrault.
quote:
Shepherd's office has said she takes all allegations seriously. But she has declined to confirm whether she is investigating the Charest meeting with the NEB explaining that all investigations are confidential. Earlier this year, her office dismissed allegations that Charest had inappropriately attempted to arrange a meeting for TransCanada with the office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
There was another oil pipeline spill in Saskatchewan this week
Another, smaller, oil pipeline spill took place in Saskatchewan this week.
Tuesday night, the province got word that Crescent Point Energy, the largest energy producer in Saskatchewan, had a release of approximately 100 cubic metres of emulsion from a pipeline near Pennant, about 45 kilometres northwest of Swift Current.
“Recovery of the oil has taken place,” Laurie Pushor, deputy minister of the economy, said Wednesday.
Provincial employees were monitoring the cleanup and the company has filed an initial incident report with the government.
“It’s pretty well cleaned up at this point, it was a relatively small, very contained spill,” said Neil Smith, chief operating officer of Crescent Point, on Thursday.
According to him, the spill took place in a farmer’s canola field near a stagnant slough.
“There is no wildlife threatened, no drinking water threatened, no possibility of it moving toward anything like that,” said Smith, echoing similar comments made by Pushor.
It was another company operating in the same area that discovered the spill.
“They gave us the heads up,” said Smith....
Worse Than Keystone XL? TransCanada's Terrifying "Plan B"
The pipeline giant TransCanada, stymied in its attempt to drive Keystone XL through America's heartland, is facing renewed opposition to its "new and equally misguided proposal" to build the Energy East pipeline across Canada and ship tar sands oil via tankers along the U.S. East Coast to refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.
In partnership with a number of Canadian and U.S. environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)—a major player in the fight to defeat Keystone XL—on Tuesday released a new report outlining how Energy East would "effectively create a waterborne tar sands pipeline with hundreds of new oil tankers traversing the Atlantic coastline, making vast areas of the Eastern Seaboard vulnerable to a dangerous tar sands spill."...
That's about half the population of Quebec. Energy East will not go through Quebec because it's a really stupid idea and the 81 mayors know it.
Occasionally I hear the rhetoric that this is a federal decision that Quebec does not have the power to interfere with. While legally that may be true from a practical perspective it is not. The pipeline will not go through without the support of the people of Quebec. The people of Quebec have no reason to accept it. This is the province that put a moratorium on fracking because of the threat to our water.
Four U.S. unions say that Canadians need jobs?
We definitely need to employ Canadian construction workers, by building a wall at the border.
Here's one of the aptly-named "union bosses":
I'm a dedicated trade unionist, but these 4 U.S. unions should seriously fuck off and die.
I don't care. Would rather see them on the dole. Sorry for being silly. I also want to eliminate jobs of Canadians building armored cars for Saudi Arabia. And that's just the start.
There's lots of work to be done in Alberta, and elsewhere, without building tar sands pipelines. But if Rachel Notley and her oil baron friends really really want to, more power to them. Just send them through wherever you live. Or straight down across the Alberta-U.S. border. Not here. Keep them the fuck away from my home.
Or do I get a say in what shit passes by my home?
Jobs are highly overrated.
Canadian military official fears pipeline will lead to "disaster of epic proportions"
Canada's Department of National Defence (DND) has serious concerns that a major pipeline project proposed by Calgary-based energy company TransCanada Corp. will lead to a "disaster of epic proportions," reported Radio-Canada on Tuesday, based on a series of internal emails.
The Department also doubts whether the company has the capacity to clean up in the event of a disaster, the French-language public broadcaster reported.
The report noted that the pipeline's proposed route would go near a half dozen Canadian Forces bases as well as cutting right through a base in Petawawa, to the northwest of Ottawa. But the emails, obtained by Radio-Canada through federal access to information legislation, indicated that the DND officials were having trouble getting answers from the company in response to questions
The concerns raised by the military add on to other concerns raised by environmentalists, First Nations leaders and dozens of mayors along the pipeline's proposed 4,500 kilometre route. If approved, Energy East would have the capacity to ship more than 1.1 million barrels per day of oil from Alberta to New Brunswick....
Oppose the Energy East Pipeline
Energy East 101, a four-minute handimation gives a comprehensive background on the controversial Energy East pipeline proposed by TransCanada.
The video is narrated in English by Maude Barlow, author and national chairperson of the Council of Canadians.
La face cachée d'Énergie Est
And in French by Quebec-based activist Steven Guilbeault from Equiterre.
Idle No More demonstrators gather at Ralph Goodale's office
An Idle No More demonstrator says she wants to know MP Ralph Goodale's stance on renewable energy after the Husky pipeline breach into the North Saskatchewan River.
Nancy Greyeyes was among a group of around five who carried signs and drummed outside Goodale's Regina office Wednesday.
She said she was frustrated after the river, which she calls home, was contaminated by oil and other materials in the spill.
"It broke my heart to have to tell my granddaughter, 'don't touch that water, no you can't get in that water' when any other time we would go to the river and my kids and my grandkids could just go and play."....
Three dozen groups call for suspension of Energy East hearings, independent inquiry
Three dozen advocacy groups across Canada are calling for an immediate suspension of federal hearings reviewing the Energy East pipeline project and a public inquiry into the actions of the national energy regulator.
In a letter sent on Tuesday to Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr, the groups, including Greenpeace Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation, the Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique, Nature Québec, and the Council of Canadians, urged the government to intervene over what is becoming known as the Charest affair....
..the doc is just over 17min long.
New Documentary Exposes Enbridge Line 5
A compelling new documentary was released today that scrutinizes the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac. It is a must-watch for anyone concerned about keeping oil out of the Great Lakes.
Motherboard correspondent Spencer Chumbley went to Michigan to investigate the two degrading oil pipelines, and the research is alarming. If just one of the pipelines ruptured, it would result in a spill of 1.5 million gallons of oil. University of Michigan research scientist Dave Schwab says, “I can’t imagine another place in the Great Lakes where it’d be more devastating to have an oil spill.” At more than 62 years old, this pipeline is way past its expiration date.
New allegations of bias over Charest meeting shake TransCanada pipeline hearings
For the second time in less than a month, two members of a federal panel reviewing the biggest pipeline ever proposed in Canada are facing a legal challenge calling on them to step aside because they appear to be biased.
The two members of the country’s pipeline regulator, the National Energy Board, Jacques Gauthier and Lyne Mercier, met privately with former Quebec premier Jean Charest and stakeholders intervening in a review of the Energy East project — a 4,500-kilometre pipeline that, if approved, would ship up to 1.1 million barrels of oil per day between Alberta and New Brunswick.
Since Charest, now a lawyer at the McCarthy Tétrault firm, was working as a consultant for the project proponent, Calgary-based TransCanada Corp., at the time of the meeting on Jan. 15, 2015, opponents of the project say the discussion never should have taken place.
Motions could disrupt Energy East hearings
The legal challenge raises questions about whether Gauthier used a personal email account to contact Charest and conduct official business of the NEB. It also calls for Gauthier and Mercier's to recuse themselves from the ongoing review of Energy East. Public hearings on the proposed project began earlier this month in New Brunswick and were scheduled to continue next week in Quebec but now face a potential disruption.
The NEB has powers of a federal court and its members, like judges, must avoid taking actions that would show bias, such as meeting privately with one of the parties involved in a matter under review.
The new legal challenge, launched by Canadian environmental law firm Ecojustice on behalf of an Ontario group opposed to Energy East, is the second one to request Gauthier and Mercier’s removal from the panel in the wake of revelations about the NEB’s private meetings uncovered by National Observer. It follows a similar motion introduced by a Montreal lawyer, Dominique Neuman, representing environmentalists from Quebec with Stratégies Énergétiques and the Association québécoise de lutte contre la pollution atmosphérique, that also requested the reassignment of the NEB’s chief executive, Peter Watson, who participated in the meetings....