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Water escapes Suncor oil sands pond into Athabasca River
March 27, 2013
Contaminated water may have spilled into the Athabasca River from a broken pipe at Suncor Energy Inc's oil sands project in northern Alberta, sparking new fears about pollution of the river from the massive oil sands developments along its banks.
The Athabasca is the main source of drinking water for aboriginal and other communities downstream and has been the subject of several controversial reports on its water quality.
The province of Alberta's environment department said it does not yet know whether the water that spilled from a holding pond contained toxic materials. Samples from the pond are being sent for analysis and it will take at least a day before results are returned. Environment department staff have been at the project site north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, since early on Monday.
Cleaning Up Oil Spills. Good Planets are Hard to Find
March 26, 2013
"It is so big and expanding so fast that it's pretty much beyond human response that can be effective. ... You're looking at a long-term poisoning of the area. Ultimately, this will have a multidecade impact." - Richard Charter of the Defenders of Wildlife
The scourge of oil spill will bedevil humanity. In last years, we have witnessed many oils spills. Some of them where small, some of them were bigger, but undoubtedly all of them had enormous impact on the environment. And as good planets are hard to find and we have to look after the Earth, the best way to keep the world clean an imbalance is to prevent oil spills. But oil companies and simply people make mistakes, not to mention that technology sometimes comes unstuck.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has shown how much oil spills are harmful to the environment and people. But the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has also shown that oil companies and their technology are not enough for cleaning up oils spills. And cleaning up oil spills is crucial for the future of our planet and for our own good sake.
8 Totally Cool Uses for Drones
8) Environmental Compliance
Midnight dumping of toxic waste and other surreptitious activities are the bane of environmental law enforcement. But drones may prove to be a cost-effective solution to that problem.
EPA announces expert panel to review fracking study
March 26, 2013
(Reuters) - The U.S. environmental regulator has selected experts in fields ranging from well-drilling to toxicology to review a highly anticipated report on the natural gas and oil extraction method commonly known as fracking.
The Environmental Protection Agency's science advisory board on Monday named 31 experts from universities, scientific labs and companies to review the agency's landmark hydraulic fracturing study that is expected to be delivered in 2014.
The study, first requested by Congress in 2010, may prove pivotal in the government's regulation of fracking that has unlocked generations' worth of oil and gas supplies.
Possible Oil Spill in Alaska Spotted With Google Maps?
March 22, 2013
I don’t think there are many other people who spend their spare time perusing remote sensing images, Google Maps, and the like. I’m one of them, and I may have found a compatriot: climate blogger Michael Cote — who says he has found evidence of an unreported oil spill in the Arctic using Google Maps.
He posted a series of Google Maps images showing what appears to be a very small oil spill at a ConocoPhillips facility near the Colville River in Alaska. I decided to have a look on Google Earth — to get a more interesting oblique perspective on the scene. The image at top is what I came up with. Click on it for a larger view, and then look at what appears to be a dock projecting into the waterway. There’s a dark stain in the water, as well as a structure that sure looks like a containment boom to me.
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