US President Donald Trump has opened large areas of Alaska, including the Gulf of Alaska just north of the BC border to oil leases. The additional leases also allow more drilling the Arctic. If drilling and production does go ahead, which isn't certain, that might also mean there could be even more oil tanker traffic […]
District of Kitimat Council voted Monday five to two to create a “working group” of “concerned citizens and community groups” to consider the future of riverbank camping along the Kitimat river. The working group will consider issues such as access to the river, pollution and how to control extended camping along the river. That vote […]
“Very low levels” of crude oil from the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska, are a threat to the survival of herring and pink salmon that spawn in the region, according to a study released today by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The study shows that embryonic salmon and herring […]
The cost of Enbridge's cleanup from the spill at Marshall, Michigan in 2010 is now $1.157 billion the company said Friday as it released its second quarter results. That is an increase of $35 million from the estimates Enbridge released at the end of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014. As of June, 2014, […]
It appears that the Stephen Harper's strategy for approving Northern Gateway has been revealed on background to The Globe and Mail's Gary Mason. (Either it's a revelation or a trial balloon). It comes down to the idea that Harper will approve Gateway “in the national interest,” count on a vote split between the NDP and […]
There is more proof that the toxic agents in crude oil are damaging to the development of fish embryos. A study, "Deepwater Horizon Crude Oil Impacts the Developing Hearts of Large Predatory Pelagic Fish," to be published on March 25, shows that several Gulf of Mexico fish embryos developed serious defects in heart development following […]
On March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez plowed into Bligh Reef in Alaska's Prince William Sound, spilling 260,000 to 750,000 barrels or 41,000 to 119,000 cubic metres of crude oil. That was 25 years ago. The media loves anniversary stories and the Exxon Valdez look-backs and updates are already ramping up—right in the middle […]
Excerpts from the Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel report relating to the Exxon Valdez disaster. Northern Gateway told the Joint Reivew Panel that on a worldwide basis, all data sets show a steady reduction in the number and size of oil spills since the 1970s. This decline has been even more apparent since regulatory changes in […]
Oil spills kill fish. That's well known. Now scientists say they have found out why oil spills kill adult fish. The chemicals in the oil often trigger an irregular heartbeat and cardiac arrest. A joint study by Stanford University and the US National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration have discovered that crude oil interferes with fish […]
The Haisla Nation response to the federal government's request for consultation on the Joint Review Panel report on the Northern Gateway lists what the First Nation sees as flaws in the panel's assessment of the project. (The Haisla filed their first list of flaws in the JRP in a court challenge). In the response, seen […]