Crude Words Exchanged Over Oil Sands

May 3, 2012

Crude oil isn’t exactly clean, but environmentalists say it beats bitumen, the tar-like oil extracted from subterranean Canadian sands.

Bitumen is more corrosive and abrasive than standard crude, hence it is more prone to causing leaks in pipelines, according to a report by the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Pipeline Safety Trust.

Oil industry representatives disagreed with the groups' report that pipes carrying bitumen have 16 times more leaks than other other pipelines. In an article by CNN Money, they said that different reporting systems result in the difference in numbers.

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