DougR
Member
Delstele, it's interesting you chose the Keystone pipeline. Tar sands bitumen, the most polluting source of oil in the world is partly recovered by strip mining and shipped to US refineries. 55,000 square miles of Canadian boreal forest are impacted.
Canada’s tar sands are among the most climate-polluting sources of oil. (Environmental Defense Group Canada)
Approximately two tons of tar sands are excavated after strip mining two tons of overburden (boreal foreest, soil, sand, clay and rock) to yield one barrel of oil. (ienearth.org)
Oil sands production requires an enormous amount of water (4 barrels of water for each barrel of oil). Further, the toxic tailings ponds — where the contaminated water leftover from pre-processing the bitumen is stored — pose disturbing health and environmental risks. Cancer-causing pollutants contained in this sludge migrate through the groundwater system and leak into the surrounding soil and surface water. (ourworld.unu.edu)
Currently, tailings ponds occupy a fair amount of space in Alberta—covering around 77 square kilometers. Including all tailings ponds structures along with the ponds themselves, the total covered area is 220 square kilometers—an area about 1.5 times larger than the city of Vancouver. (Energy Education, Canada)
The 120-odd active tar sands projects are owned by major oil companies from Canada and around the world, including the U.S. and China. Together, the companies pump out 2.6 million barrels every day, virtually all of which is shipped to U.S. refineries. (National Geographic 2019 ... production is now over 3M barrels per day)
Canada’s tar sands are among the most climate-polluting sources of oil. (Environmental Defense Group Canada)
Approximately two tons of tar sands are excavated after strip mining two tons of overburden (boreal foreest, soil, sand, clay and rock) to yield one barrel of oil. (ienearth.org)
Oil sands production requires an enormous amount of water (4 barrels of water for each barrel of oil). Further, the toxic tailings ponds — where the contaminated water leftover from pre-processing the bitumen is stored — pose disturbing health and environmental risks. Cancer-causing pollutants contained in this sludge migrate through the groundwater system and leak into the surrounding soil and surface water. (ourworld.unu.edu)
Currently, tailings ponds occupy a fair amount of space in Alberta—covering around 77 square kilometers. Including all tailings ponds structures along with the ponds themselves, the total covered area is 220 square kilometers—an area about 1.5 times larger than the city of Vancouver. (Energy Education, Canada)
The 120-odd active tar sands projects are owned by major oil companies from Canada and around the world, including the U.S. and China. Together, the companies pump out 2.6 million barrels every day, virtually all of which is shipped to U.S. refineries. (National Geographic 2019 ... production is now over 3M barrels per day)
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