Graph of the Day: Population Change of Athabasca River Caribou, 1993-2004

Woodland caribou is one of the species likely to be extirpated from regions subjected to Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) development. Caribou declines across Alberta have been correlated with the level of industrial development within their ranges.43 In the past ten years, the East Side Athabasca River caribou herd, whose range overlaps much of the […]

Environmental impacts of oil sands development in Alberta

Posted by Nate Hagens at The Oil Drum …The liquid tailings, a by product of the oil sands mining process, contain naphthenic acids, unrecovered hydrocarbons and trace metals, making it toxic to aquatic organisms21 and mammals22. Operators are required to store tailings waste on site in large containment dykes because the water is too toxic […]

Timor Sea oil spill may worsen, Australia conservationists say

By Ben Sharples Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) — An oil spill from a leaking well off Western Australia that has polluted the Timor Sea with 1,200 metric tons of oil may worsen and is a “major ecological disaster in the making,” a conservation group says. “This is a disaster that risks blowing out further in terms […]

Heavy oil pollution remains in Amazon, despite company claims

By Jeremy Hance A new report shows that the Corrientes region of the Peruvian Amazon, which suffered decades of toxic contamination by Occidental Petroleum (OXY), is far from being cleaned-up. The survey, conducted by US non-profit E-Tech International, found that heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and hydrocarbons still exist at levels above the safety limits […]

Iraq's 'Garden of Eden' waterway facing catastrophe

Basra, Iraq (AFP) Sept 9, 2009 – Iraqis living alongside the ancient Shatt al-Arab waterway, the site local legend says of the Garden of Eden, face an environmental catastrophe because of massive dams built by neighbouring Iran. A vibrant fresh water lifeline teeming with fish has become a salty, polluted channel which is driving people […]

Graph of the Day: World Oil Production, 1850-2200

SOMEBODY was having a graph in Sandown last week after a mysterious image appeared on the beach.A County Press reader sent this photograph of what looks like a graph with a set of dates on it, plus a ‘you are here’ message.The graph attracted lots of attention from early-morning joggers and dog walkers, before it […]

Graph of the Day: Daily Production from Mexico’s Super-giant Cantarell Oilfield

The eighth largest oil field in the world will be dead by the end of next year. Shall I repeat that, or did you get it the first time? Like the “Time to Die” speech of Rutger Hauer at the end of Blade Runner, the Cantarell complex has surely seen its share of ocean storms, […]

EPA: Chemicals found in Wyo. drinking water might be from natural gas drilling

By Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica Federal environment officials investigating drinking water contamination near the ranching town of Pavillion, Wyo., have found that at least three water wells contain a chemical used in the natural gas drilling process of hydraulic fracturing. Scientists also found traces of other contaminants, including oil, gas or metals, in 11 of 39 […]

Scenes from the violent twilight of oil

It succors and drowns human life. And for the last eight years, oil — and the people and places that make it — was my obsession. By Peter Maass The canoe that carried me into the Niger Delta had an outboard engine that conked out several times before reaching Tombia, which was then the latest […]

Alberta oilsands causing acid rain in Saskatchewan

By BOB WEBER Environmentalists want Ottawa to set caps on emissions from Alberta’s oilsands that are likely responsible for acid rain falling over northern Saskatchewan’s pristine rivers and lakes. “It’s not just regulation on every individual plant that’s needed. There also needs to be a regional cap that’s established for the industry,” said Peter Prebble […]

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