Tar Sands Free Northeast

HOLD THE DATES!

350.org and the Green Mountain Global Forum of the Mad River Valley are teaming up to host a screening of a documentary film and a subsequent panel discussion about tar sands oil and its environmental hazards in light of what appear to be plans to transport tar sands oil through the Northeast Kingdom via the existing Portland/Montreal pipeline.

The film, Tipping Point: The Age of the Oil Sands, will be screened at the Big Picture Theatre (48 Carroll Rd, Waitsfield) on Sunday, November 11 at 7:00 p.m. The panel discussion will follow that Tuesday, November 13, also at 7:00 p.m. at the Big Picture Theatre. Shelley Kath of NRDC and representatives of other environmental NGOs (VPIRG, National Wildlife Federation, 350.org) will comprise the panel, which will discuss the numerous problems associated with tar sands oil and the potential of passing a community resolution to ban tar sands oil in the Mad River Valley and beyond.

The notice that arrived at Debbie and David Hense's home last September didn't seem especially alarming. Enbridge Inc. was going to replace Line 6B, the oil pipeline that leaked more than a million gallons of heavy crude into Michigan's Kalamazoo River in 2010. Since 6B runs through the Henses' 22-acre property near Fenton, Mich., some of the construction would be done there.

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EDMONTON - Environmental groups opposed to the Northern Gateway pipeline have seized control of the public debate, Enbridge Inc. CEO Patrick Daniel told a radio audience Monday.

"Everything that we say sounds defensive and self-interested, and on the other side, everything they say ... is really taken as gospel — and it isn't," Daniel said on the Rutherford Show.

Who knew an oil spill could inspire so much, well, beauty? 

This one pic shows folks across North America acting together to stop tar sands from crossing their communities, for the 2 year anniversary of the Kalamazoo River Oil Spill.

For more photos see the slide show here

Two years ago today, a tar sands pipeline operated by Enbridge Inc. dumped approximately 1.2 million gallons of raw tar sands, or diluted bitumen (dilbit), into a wetland that overflowed into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River, contaminating nearly 40 miles of the watershed. The spill, which is still being cleaned up today, was the largest and costliest spill in Midwest history.

In the week surrounding the anniversary, citizens across North America are standing in solidarity with their neighbors affected by the Kalamazoo River spill and telling companies, like Enbridge and TransCanada, “We don’t want your dirty tar sands.” The planned actions by local groups will call attention to at-risk communities along the network of existing and proposed tar sands pipeline routes. The geographical diversity brings home the message that a spill like the one in Michigan could occur anywhere.

BY ELIZABETH MCGOWAN AND LISA SONG, INSIDECLIMATE NEWS

MARSHALL, Mich.—An acrid stench had already enveloped John LaForge's five-bedroom house when he opened the door just after 6 a.m. on July 26, 2010. By the time the building contractor hurried the few feet to the refuge of his Dodge Ram pickup, his throat was stinging and his head was throbbing.

LaForge was at work excavating a basement when his wife called a couple of hours later. The odor had become even more sickening, Lorraine told him. And a fire truck was parked in front of their house, where Talmadge Creek rippled toward the Kalamazoo River.

LaForge headed home. By the time he arrived, the stink was so intense that he could barely keep his breakfast down.

Something else was wrong, too.

Broad coalition says region must reject increased pollution and threat of oil spills

Montpelier, VT  (June 19, 2012) – A controversial pipeline plan threatens drinking water and more than a dozen beloved natural areas in Central Canada and New England according to a new report released today. A broad coalition of organizations are defying  plans from Canadian oil pipeline company Enbridge Energy to bring tar sands oil through Ontario, Quebec, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine in a pipeline reversal scheme commonly referred to as “Trailbreaker.”  The advocates say the plan is unsafe and that a tar sands oil spill could harm Vermont’s waterways, wildlife and tourism economy.

The report, Going in Reverse: The Tar Sands Threat to Central Canada and New England, outlines an array of threats associated with the controversial tar sands, often referred to as the dirtiest oil on the planet, including unique corrosive properties that the United States federal government is currently studying to better understand whether the highly-corrosive, low-grade petroleum can be safely transported.