Infoshop News -- Canadian Environmentalist and First Nations ask the Oil and Gas Bosses to Drink the Water
June 16th, 2008
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers is holding an Oil and
Gas Investment Symposium in Calgary from June 16-18. The event brings
together over 85 companies and 375 investors from Canada, the USA, and
around the world - many of these folks are big funders in the Alberta
Tar Sands, with others looking to expand into that market.
Today, on the first day of their meeting, they had some unwelcome guests.
Activists from the Alberta Environmental Network (AEN) showed up to
tell the big shots they are not thrilled with what development of the
oilsands is having on the water they drink.
They offered to share their water with those at the meeting. Their were no takers.
Members of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Mikisew Cree First Nation joined AEN at the demonstration..
Community members of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, located
downstream from Alberta's tar sands, continue to experience high rates
of rare cancers and auto-immune diseases they believe are linked to the
development of the tar sands.
"Investors need to know that our land, our lakes and our people are
being poisoned by tar sands development so they can decide, with full
disclosure, if they still want to put their money in a human rights and
environmental nightmare," said Lionel Lepine, a member of the Athabasca
Chipewyan First Nation.
"The tar sands have become Canada's ever expanding black hole and by
the end of this conference we're hoping investors see that the same
hole will sink their money," said Leah Henderson of ForestEthics.
AEN says at their website:
"While people living in communities downstream from tar sands
developments continue to experience devastatingly high rates of rare
cancers, while Alberta's lands and waters are contaminated with
cancer-causing toxins and are transformed from pristine Boreal forest
into what former Alberta Premier Lougheed refers to as a "moonscape,"
investors in the industry and corporations continue to make record
profits. Just weeks after 500 ducks died landing on a toxic tailings
pond in Alberta's tar sands region, and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach
announced his government's intention to launch a $25 million
advertising campaign to depict Alberta as an "Environmentally-friendly"
province to the rest of the world, investors in the most destructive
project on Earth are gathering to promote their interests and ensure
the tar sands continue to expand, at the expense of the environment and
the health of downstream communities!"
Oilsands are deposits of bitumen, a molasses-like viscous oil that will
not flow unless heated or diluted with lighter hydrocarbons. They are
contained in three major areas beneath 140,200* square kilometres of
north-eastern Alberta - an area larger than the state of Florida.
Tar sands oil is sent to the U.S. Midwest and Rockies for upgrading and
refining. U.S. refineries are proposing major expansions to handle
promises of larger supplies. Last summer the BP refinery on the shores
of Lake Michigan created a public uproar when its plan for tar sands
expansion included dumping more pollutants into the Lake.
In addition to the problems of torn up forests and toxic lagoons, the
process for making the synthetic crude produces three times the
greenhouse gases per barrel as conventional oil production.
The respected Pembina Institute in a report released today says Alberta
should not approve more oilsands refineries near Edmonton until the
province has a solid plan to limit the fresh water they will use and to
better manage the pollution they will produce.
The Institute says nine upgraders are expected to begin operating northeast of the capital between 2015 and 2020.
The Oilsands Fever report says together they will consume 10 times as
much water as the City of Edmonton each year and spew 45 megatons of
greenhouses gases - the same amount that 10-million vehicles produce.
The following is from 660 News.
Demonstrators protest environmental impact of oil sands
Protesters converged on a downtown hotel Monday, trying to bring
attention to the effects of the oilsands on their drinking water.
About 40 members of the Alberta Environmental Network staged the
demonstration near the investor's symposium hosted by the Canadian
Association of Petroleum Producers.
The Network is made up of members of the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and
other environmental groups. Representatives are arguing that
development of the oilsands should stop because it is affecting the
quality of water, air and land in their area, and that in turn is
impacting the health of the residents.
Protesters were inviting investors to take a drink of water from their
local river; however, by the end of the demonstration, not one person
had taken them up on the offer.
