For those outside Canada, the following, though not fully decided, is a
huge vote for the environment:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/jun/01/tar-sands-canada-pipeline-enbridge
by Suzanne Goldenberg, US environmental correspondent, Saturday 1 June 2013
Efforts to expand production from the Alberta tar sands suffered a
significant setback on Friday when the provincial government of British
Columbia rejected a pipeline project because of environmental shortcomings.
In a strongly worded statement, the government of the province said it
was not satisfied with the pipeline company's oil
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/oil> spill response plans.
The rejection of the pipeline -- which was to have given Alberta an
outlet to Pacific coast ports and markets in China -- further raises the
stakes on another controversial tar sands pipeline, Keystone XL.
Barack Obama is still weighing a decision on that pipeline, intended to
pump tar sands crude to the Texas gulf coast.
British Columbia, in its official submission to a pipeline review panel,
said the company had failed to demonstrate an adequate clean-up plan for
the Enbridge Northern Gateway project. It set five new conditions for
the project's approval.
"Northern Gateway has presented little evidence about how it will
respond in the event of a spill," Christopher Jones, a lawyer
representing the province, said in a statement to the federal government
panel reviewing the project.
"It is not clear from the evidence that Northern Gateway will in fact be
able to respond effectively to spills either from the pipeline itself,
or from tankers transporting diluted bitumen," Jones added.
Jones said the pipeline would cross over remote and extremely difficult
terrain, with pristine rivers that could be devastated in the event of a
spill. He said those considerations compelled the province to hold the
pipeline company to a higher standard. "Trust me is not good enough in
this case."
(snip)
*Natalia*
_______________________________________________
Futurework mailing list
Futurework@lists.uwaterloo.ca
https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
