Trans Mountain ‘pipeline is going to get built’: Trudeau dismisses B.C.’s bitumen ban

Cliffy

Standing Member
Nov 19, 2008
44,850
193
63
Nakusp, BC
Alberta officials are signalling they have no idea how to clean up toxic oilsands tailings ponds

The toxic waste of the Canadian oilpatch has been quietly spreading in the boreal forest since bitumen mining began near Fort McMurray in Northern Alberta in the 1960s.
The mix of clay, water, toxic acids, metals and leftover bitumen has sprawled in artificial ponds to cover an area twice the size of the city of Vancouver.
More than one trillion litres of the goop, called tailings, fill these man-made waste lakes that can be seen from space. An equivalent amount of water would take five days to tumble over Niagara Falls.


The contaminated tailings ponds attract and kill migrating birds. They emit methane and other greenhouse gases.
Despite years of public promises from officials that the tailings ponds would shrink and go away, they are growing. And in the meantime, troubling gaps are opening in the oversight system meant to ensure the oilpatch cleans up its mess. Alberta has collected only $1 billion from companies to help remediate tailings— a problem that is now estimated to cost about 100 times that.
Decades and billions have been spent on research and still there is no sure solution to a problem that is getting attention beyond Alberta. In August, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation — a NAFTA organization composed of officials from the U.S., Mexico and Canada — announced it would investigate and produce a report on tailings ponds and the threat they pose to surrounding groundwater and rivers.


More: https://www.nationalobserver.com/20...ave-no-idea-how-clean-toxic-oilsands-tailings

 

spilledthebeer

Executive Branch Member
Jan 26, 2017
9,296
4
36
Alberta officials are signalling they have no idea how to clean up toxic oilsands tailings ponds

The toxic waste of the Canadian oilpatch has been quietly spreading in the boreal forest since bitumen mining began near Fort McMurray in Northern Alberta in the 1960s.
The mix of clay, water, toxic acids, metals and leftover bitumen has sprawled in artificial ponds to cover an area twice the size of the city of Vancouver.
More than one trillion litres of the goop, called tailings, fill these man-made waste lakes that can be seen from space. An equivalent amount of water would take five days to tumble over Niagara Falls.


The contaminated tailings ponds attract and kill migrating birds. They emit methane and other greenhouse gases.
Despite years of public promises from officials that the tailings ponds would shrink and go away, they are growing. And in the meantime, troubling gaps are opening in the oversight system meant to ensure the oilpatch cleans up its mess. Alberta has collected only $1 billion from companies to help remediate tailings— a problem that is now estimated to cost about 100 times that.
Decades and billions have been spent on research and still there is no sure solution to a problem that is getting attention beyond Alberta. In August, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation — a NAFTA organization composed of officials from the U.S., Mexico and Canada — announced it would investigate and produce a report on tailings ponds and the threat they pose to surrounding groundwater and rivers.


More: https://www.nationalobserver.com/20...ave-no-idea-how-clean-toxic-oilsands-tailings




POOR CLUELESS CLIFFY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


He is unaware that the amount of water being used in tar sand operations has DROPPED DRASTICALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The amount of pollution from tar sands is now A MODEST FRACTION of what it once was!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Nor is Cliffy aware that the MAJOR PORTION of all tar sand pollution dates from decades back when environmental laws were MUCH MORE LAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Cliffy DELIBERATELY IGNORES AND LIES ABOUT the effort now going in to CLEAN UPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Clliffy deliberately AVOIDS reading about PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS such as those described below!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


It is certainly NOT CHEAP to clean up all that OLD Mess...............................


but to CLAIM as Cliffy has done - that Alberta lacks the knowledge to clean it up.........................................


is nothing but a CLIFFY LIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Designing Practical Solutions for Tailings Ponds
Posted on Dec 11, 2017
Dr. Mohamed Gamal El-Din is the 2017 winner of the Alberta Science and Technology Leadership (ASTech) Foundation award for Innovation in Oil Sands Research.

Dr. Mohamed Gamal El-Din is the 2017 winner of the Alberta Science and Technology Leadership (ASTech) Foundation award for Innovation in Oil Sands Research.

Mohamed Gamal El-Din receives 2017 ASTech award for work on active and passive water reclamation systems

Future Energy Systems Land and Water co-lead Mohamed Gamal El-Din has won the 2017 Alberta Science and Technology Leadership (ASTech) Foundation award for Innovation in Oil Sands Research. Announced last month, the award recognizes Gamal El-Din’s years of work developing innovative methods to reclaim oil sands process-affected water.

Freeing water from tailings

Water used in oil sands extraction process can be contaminated with a variety of particles, including heavy metals and organic compounds. To avoid damaging the surrounding environment, these waters are currently contained in more than 220 square kilometers of tailing ponds –– but eventually that water needs to go somewhere.

Making process water safe to release back into the environment has been Gamal El-Din’s priority for more than a decade. After beginning his career in municipal wastewater treatment, he recognized the eminent environmental challenge presented by oil sands extraction and began looking for solutions.

His work is paying off. Holding an NSERC Senior Industrial Research Chair at the University of Alberta, he has already done extensive work with oil sands companies to reduce the levels of contamination in their process water, but tailings ponds remain a constant feature.

“It will take few years before we can make tailings water safe for the environment,” he says. “But we will be able to make that happen.”

Active versus passive solutions

Technology currently exists that can remove the contaminants from oil sands process water, but these sorts of ‘active’ solutions tend to be energy-intensive and costly.

“Some people use membrane filtration systems to purify tap water at home,” Gamal El-Din explains. “This kind of technology could work for tailings water, but implementing it across hundreds of square kilometers would be impractical.”

Gamal El-Din therefore develops both ‘active’ and ‘engineered passive’ solutions that can scale up to meet the challenge. Purely active systems involve adding materials to contaminated water that gradually purify it over time, while engineered passive systems use the same approach but involve artificial system designs to simulate natural environments to facilitate the cleaning process.

He says constructing a special wetland with specific characteristics and capabilities could be an example of engineered passive solution.

These processes are not quick, but they can be very effective in purifying water. However, no two tailings ponds are identical, and standards have yet to be established to determine when water is safe to released.

Developing techniques and standards

As a co-lead in the Future Energy Systems Land and Water theme, Gamal El-Din is working with Anne Naeth and Dev Jennings on a large-scale multidisciplinary project that considers both the technical and societal aspects of land and water reclamation.

One aspect of the project involves further developing both active and engineered passive solutions that can be used in water reclamation systems. Another part focuses on setting standards and criteria for reclamation.

“We need to scientifically define the parameters that determine when water can safely re-enter the ecosystem, so that we can work to meet those criteria,” he explains. “There are metrics for municipal wastewater, but not tailings water –– because it has never been released back into the environment.”

Developing those standards, and continuing to work on solutions to meet them, remains Gamal El-Din’s focus. His leadership in water reclamation –– recognized by his 2017 ASTech award –– is an essential component of Future Energy Systems’ effort to mitigate the impacts of existing energy technologies.
 

MHz

Time Out
Mar 16, 2007
41,030
43
48
Red Deer AB
A lot of the 'facts' that Hoid posts are actually just things he WISHES were facts! :)
That is an issue that most members here would have problem with. Facts don't go over too well here. A certain fantasy is widely accepted though. The personality needed to allow that to take place is not found in the realm where honest people live. The flaw is not on the side of the honest posters, just so there is a general idea of where the problems stem from.
 

spilledthebeer

Executive Branch Member
Jan 26, 2017
9,296
4
36
That is an issue that most members here would have problem with. Facts don't go over too well here. A certain fantasy is widely accepted though. The personality needed to allow that to take place is not found in the realm where honest people live. The flaw is not on the side of the honest posters, just so there is a general idea of where the problems stem from.






Oh dear me MHz!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


If you wish to see FACTS treated with more respect.............................


then URGE your LIE-beral MP to stop issuing Fake News!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


If you wish to have a better understanding of the difference between LIE-beral Fake News and competing REALITY......


then DUMP YOUR LSD HABIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!








Here is an article offering some USEFUL ADVICE to LIE-berals- which sadly -they will IGNORE!! With some comments of My own in brackets):

Trudeau should choose truth for a change

By Brian Lilley

Published: September 27, 2019. Updated: September 27, 2019 5:34 PM EDT

Filed Under: Toronto SUN/ Opinion/ Columnists

Even in Montreal, Justin Trudeau couldn’t help but campaign against Ontario’s premier.

(It is clear that Our idiot Boy Justin is TERRIFIED of the sort of influence that people like Doug Ford have on public opinion!! From the amount of comment made by LIE-berals during the election it seemed as if LIE-berals were campaigning against Ford and not Scheer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

The PM was announcing a new plan to plant 2 billion trees over the next 10 years when he took his latest shot at Doug Ford.

“Doug Ford tried to ax tree planting in Ontario. A shortsighted decision not just for our environment but for the hundreds of seasonal jobs that it puts at risk,” Trudeau said.

The Liberal leader was in Montreal to join the climate march that was mostly denouncing him and his government for not doing enough and denouncing his purchase of the Trans Mountain Pipeline.

Trudeau’s answer to them is that his government will plant trees, and Conservatives, like Doug Ford, hate trees. Except that’s not true.

Like much of what Trudeau has been saying about Ford as he crosses Canada campaigning against Ontario’s premier, the tree claim is twisted like an old root bursting out of the ground.

Ontario did drop their 50 million tree program, first started in 2007, but they did so because it wasn’t planting enough trees. It averaged about 2.5 million trees a year and had not met the goals that were set when it was established and was not cost-effective.

By comparison, Ontario’s forestry industry plants 68 million trees a year without government subsidy.

(There IS A LIMIT to the number of trees that can be added to the urban tree “canopy”!! The market for new trees for urban areas certainly took a big jump in the aftermath of the BIG ICE STORM in 1998 but once the broken trees in public parks and boulevards are replaced - then what??????????????)

(And certainly the Emerald Ash Borer generated a certain market for trees in urban areas - to replace the Ash trees killed by the boring insects!! But that leaves NO PLACE to plant the millions of other trees that LIE-berals were subsidizing!! Thus Ford has simply recognized tree market REALITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

But hey, why let facts get in the way of attacking your opponent, or actually, not even your opponent. Doug Ford’s name won’t appear on a single ballot this election but from coast to coast, Justin Trudeau is campaigning against the Ontario premier.

“Are you not misleading voters by campaigning against somebody who isn’t even on the ballot and has different policies than Mr. Scheer?” Trudeau was asked by CTV reporter Glen McGregor on Thursday.

Trudeau’s response was to mislead anyone watching by attacking Ford and claiming those same policies belong to Andrew Scheer.

“You know who misled voters? Doug Ford said he was for the people and turned around and cut services for everyone while cutting taxes for the wealthiest,” Trudeau said.

I asked his campaign to name the tax cuts for the wealthiest that they keep mentioning at every turn because I couldn’t find these big tax cuts in any Ontario government document like say, the budget.

“Doug Ford eliminated a surtax on the highest earning Ontarians. He also cut estate taxes, further benefiting the wealthiest 1%,” said Trudeau spokesperson Eleanore Catenaro.

I looked up this supposed surtax cut, it doesn’t exist. The tax rates in Ontario under Doug Ford are the same as they were under former Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne.

(Oh - this sounds like a BARE FACED DELIBERATE LIE-beral LIE!! WE should be DEEPLY AFRAID of a govt that is either so IGNORANT of policy they offer WRONG ANSWERS - or we should FEAR a govt that is so DELIBERATELY DECEPTIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

All that happened is that Ford cancelled a tax hike that Wynne had proposed but not implemented.

(Oh- that sounds like LIE-beral Deception - simply cancelling future tax grabs for HOGS!! And of course it is al; Wynne-bag LIE-beral deception - tax increases for all and PAY RAISES for LIE-beral PALS!! Bait and switch IS the LIE-beral mantra!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

As for estate taxes, the biggest tax cut there is eliminated a $250 fee for anyone settling the estate of a deceased loved one valued at less than $50,000. Is that how we now define the 1%?

(With LIE-berals getting caught muttering about NEW WEALTH TAXES that will kick in when you sell your house - that they later DENIED even considering due to the public anger at LIE-beral gravy grabbing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Justin Trudeau has spent a lot of time talking about positive politics and against the politics of fear. He’s spoken out against politicians who distort the truth to make their point and he even passed legislation to try to deal with misinformation being spread during elections.

Yet at stop after stop, he tells outright lies about his opponents. He doesn’t just torque or twist the truth to make him look better than his opponents — he lies.

I’ve been around politics long enough to know that this isn’t just a problem with Trudeau or the Liberal Party alone. But for him to continually preach that we can’t campaign on fear and that facts matter is a bit rich.

I’d like to start hearing the truth from Justin Trudeau but given how he has reacted to SNC-Lavalin, blackface and other problems he’s faced, I won’t be holding my breath.

(I suggest that getting DETAILED answers to the Lavalin mess is a PRIORITY!! It is one thing to “choose forward” with the idiot Boy but it is quite another thing to “choose forward with a convicted felon”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

(The available facts indicate that Wilson-Raybould -OUR Attorney General - WAS FIRED for her insistence that Trudope IS NOT LEGALLY PERMITTED to handle Lavalin as he desires - if her opinion is correct then that makes Our idiot Boy a FELON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

MHz

Time Out
Mar 16, 2007
41,030
43
48
Red Deer AB
https://sputniknews.com/environment...leaking-383000-gallons-of-crude-oil-into-us-/
TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada, is searching for answers and has been faced with extensive cleanup efforts after the Keystone pipeline system “released” 400,000 gallons of crude oil into North Dakota wetlands Tuesday night.

An emergency response crew was dispatched by TC Energy on October 29 after the Canada-based energy company detected a drop in pipeline pressure around 9:20 p.m. local time and shut down its portion of the Keystone pipeline system in Edinburg, North Dakota, (not to be confused with the proposed Keystone XL system).
Current incident estimates published by the company say that 9,120 US barrels (383,040 gallons) or “approximately half the size of an Olympic-sized swimming pool” of crude oil were released into an impacted area of 2,500 square yards - which is “less than half the size of a football field.”​
The impacted wetlands are located less than 50 miles from the Canadian border and are not a source of residents’ drinking water, according to Karl Rockeman of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality’s water division.


Can the other lines pick up the slack or should Quebec start hoping for chinooks this winter as they would be the 1st customers shut off during any emergency in the US? 'Any' meaning as in 'all' as small as it can be yet big enough to quell any arguments.
 

Hoid

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 15, 2017
20,408
4
36
A mere 1.4 million liters spilled in North Dakota.

Could be TC's biggest ever.
 

MHz

Time Out
Mar 16, 2007
41,030
43
48
Red Deer AB
Not sure why oil companies can't hire mercs to do the job
Since bankers control both sides of any war you can figure that out just using the 2 WW's from last century to see who they owned back then. The list is almost the same, Cuba and Russia escaped.