22,000 barrels of oil spilled from northwestern Alberta oil well

[DeNiro]

Risk: Some animals you don't see might die prematurely.

Reward: You get to drive.

Buy electric before preaching to me about the environment. Cheers.

TOML

[TOMapleLaughs]

Okay, then go ahead and 'push the government.' See how far you get. Cheers.

TOML

[DeNiro]

Okay, then go ahead and 'push the government.' See how far you get. Cheers.

TOML

[ZackAttack-9]

Okay, then go ahead and 'push the government.' See how far you get. Cheers.

TOML

[Hyzer]

Very nice. I suggest you all send emails to your MP's. I've sent like 5 so far and they all come back with garbage non-sense. I'll probably call my MP in the next few days.

[Satan's Evil Twin]

[Buddhas Hand]

That's the sad thing about people today. Everyone's too passive because we're all distracted by new exciting technology like Ipads and glasses that do everything for you.

That's why I respect people in Montreal, they'll protest over anything. Unfortunately people's belief that they can enact change have been crushed by governments in most of North America.

[Satan's Evil Twin]

Third oil spill fuels calls for Alberta pipeline review

NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE, CARRIE TAIT

CALGARY — The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Jun. 19 2012, 6:34 PM EDT

Last updated Tuesday, Jun. 19 2012, 10:26 PM EDT

Environmental critics are calling for a major review of pipeline safety in Alberta after the province experienced a third large oil spill in a month.

ENERGY

Video: TransCanada to build pipeline in B.C.

ENERGY

Video: Canada's newest pipeline: the train

ENERGY

Video: Enbridge boosts capacity

About 230,000 litres of heavy crude oil spilled from a pumping station on an Enbridge Inc. pipeline onto farmland, Alberta’s oil and gas regulator, the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB), said Tuesday.

The regulator said 1,450 barrels of oil spilled from a pumping station on Enbridge’s Athabasca pipeline, 24 kilometres from Elk Point, Alta., a small town roughly 200 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. That pipeline, briefly shut down but then restarted Tuesday, connects the oil sands with Hardisty, Canada’s most important crude oil hub. The spill comes while crews are still working to clean up two other large leaks in Alberta, nearly 800,000 litres of oil from a Pace Oil & Gas Ltd. well about 200 kilometres from the Northwest Territories border, and 160,000 to 480,000 litres from a Plains Midstream Canada pipeline that ruptured beneath the Red Deer River.

Environmental groups are now seizing on the confluence of accidents, which includes another massive spill from a Plains pipe last year, to call for an expansive look at pipeline safety in Alberta.

“Given the significant number of pipeline spills in recent months, Alberta should conduct a review of the integrity of Alberta’s pipeline system,” said Simon Dyer, policy director with Alberta’s the Pembina Institute. “Pipeline spills are inevitable but the risks can be reduced through stronger regulation and practices.”

The ERCB defended the province’s rules. “Alberta has a fairly strong safety record of pipeline safety regardless of the recent incidents,” spokesman Darin Barter said. “I couldn’t speculate on whether the province should or shouldn’t call any sort of review of pipelines because I know our pipelines, at this point, we consider to be adequate.”

In 2010, the province averaged nearly two pipeline failures a day, spilling 9,350 litres. Mr. Barter said Alberta’s record may look ugly compared with other areas because it demands all incidents be reported.

He acknowledged, however, that “there’s also room to improve and we’ll be looking at everything in front of us. But at this point, the ERCB is confident its regulations are protective of public safety.”

Enbridge, in a statement, blamed “a failure of a flange gasket” for the spill and said “there is no risk to public health or safety.”

Pipeline safety is a critical issue for Alberta, as its government mounts a major domestic and international initiative to convince people in British Columbia and the U.S. that a series of new oil sands pipelines – including Keystone XL and Northern Gateway, an Enbridge proposal – can be built without causing environmental damage. That has made the subject of spills a touchy one that officials have sought to play down.

On Tuesday, for example, Alberta’s Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development said the recent spills are not necessarily cause for alarm, noting they happened in different parts of the province.

http://www.theglobea...article4352760/

Enbridge Elk Point Spill Pumps About 230,000 Litres Of Heavy Crude In Alberta

CP | By The Canadian Press Posted: 06/19/2012 6:46 pm Updated: 06/20/2012 1:49 pm

ELK POINT, Alta. - There's been another oil spill in Alberta, this time northeast of Edmonton.

The Energy Resources Conservation Board says the leak of heavy crude oil happened Monday at a pumping station on Enbridge Inc.’s (TSX:ENB) Athabasca pipeline about 24 kilometres southeast of Elk Point.

Enbridge estimates about 230,000 litres has leaked, but the ERCB's Darin Barter said Tuesday that amount hasn't been confirmed.

"It's a significant size spill," said Barter. "Any amount of crude oil out of a pipeline is significant to us. Obviously we've had a number of pipeline incidents in the past short while and we're monitoring cleanup on them and we have a number of investigations underway."

Barter said the pumping station — a 12-year-old facility which is in the middle of a field — has been isolated. He also said the oil has not spilled into any waterways, nor were there any evacuations or injuries due to the leak.

"There's absolutely no waterways, there's no water, there's no standing water, it's on dry land," he said. "The company is actually on the scene and they're cleaning up the spill now. We''ll remain there for as long as we need to be until our comfort is achieved in cleanup operations."

Enbridge said in a news release that the cause of the leak appears to be a failure of a flange gasket. It said as soon as it detected the leak, it notified civic authorities and other regulatory agencies.

But Steve Upham, reeve of the County of St. Paul, where the pumping station is located, said as of Tuesday night he hadn't received any notification.

Upham said he was aware of the spill only through media reports.

"I don't think anybody in the county, at this point, has been notified," he said.

Asked if he should have been contacted by Enbridge, Upham said: "I would have thought so. Or Alberta Environment, because they would be notified, I think. We've heard nothing from anybody."

Enbridge said immediately after the leak was detected, the pipeline was shut down. It was restarted again Monday afternoon, but the company was ordered by the ERCB to shut it down again Tuesday afternoon.

"Enbridge is in discussion with the ERCB to determine the appropriate time for a restart of the line," the company said.

The leak is the second major spill in Alberta this month. Up to 475,000 litres of oil leaked from a pipeline owned by Plains Midstream Canada into the Red Deer River and flowed into Gleniffer Lake earlier this month.

People with homes on the man-made lake say the company still can't say for sure how long the cleanup will take. The Alberta government says it is monitoring water on the river and the lake twice daily at 21 different sites. It says trace levels of hydrocarbons have been detected beyond the containment booms on the lake, but that the levels are well below the province's drinking water guidelines.

The province is still advising people not to draw water directly from the river or lake, and it's telling people not to swim or fish in the lake, either.

"Once again Albertans are left to deal with the toxic effects of yet another pipeline spill in Alberta," said Greenpeace campaigner Mike Hudema.

"How many spills does it take before Alberta Premier Alison Redford does something to protect our water and all our communities? At minimum, we need an independent assessment of Alberta's pipeline safety to show the deficits in management, oversight, enforcement and infrastructure."

Enbridge is proposing to build a pipeline that would stretch from Alberta to the B.C. coast and transport oilsands oil. The Northern Gateway pipeline is in the midst of public hearings and is encountering a lot of opposition amongst First Nation groups.

Enbridge operates about 24,613 kilometres of crude pipeline, delivering on average more than 2.2 million barrels per day of oil and liquids.

— By Mary Jo Laforest in Edmonton

http://www.huffingto..._n_1610613.html

[Heretic]

Third oil spill fuels calls for Alberta pipeline review

[Satan's Evil Twin]

Greenpeace denied Edmonton billboard space for oil spill ad

SUSAN KRASHINSKY - MARKETING AND ADVERTISING REPORTER

The Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Jun. 19 2012, 4:47 PM EDT

Last updated Wednesday, Jun. 20 2012, 11:14 AM EDT

Pattison Outdoor has denied Greenpeace Canada the space on one of its billboards in downtown Edmonton – and handed the activist group a much bigger free PR opportunity.

On Friday, the company, which owns billboards and other ad space on public transit and in malls and airports, advised Greenpeace Canada that it had rejected its ad about oil spills in Alberta.

Greenpeace had booked the billboard space earlier in the week and submitted the design on Wednesday. Pattison rejected it two days later without giving the organization its reasons for doing so.

The bright yellow billboard design included black text that read “When there’s a huge solar energy spill, it’s just called a nice day. Green jobs, not more oil spills.”

The ad was a response to the recent oil spill near the town of Sundre, Alta. It was designed to draw attention to the problem of oil spills, and to encourage premier Alison Redford to appoint an independent body to investigate the safety of the province’s oil pipelines, said Mike Hudema, a climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace Canada in Alberta. A recent study conducted by Saskatchewan’s provincial auditor found problems in that province with enforcing regulations over pipeline safety.

“It’s something that unfortunately is a recurring theme here in the province,” Mr. Hudema said. “We have aging pipeline infrastructure.”

The billboard was booked to go up this Sunday, June 24, and run for a week, at the corner of Jasper Avenue and 106 St. NW in downtown Edmonton. It would have cost Greenpeace $2,800 for the week, plus tax, Mr. Hudema said.

When contacted for comment, Pattison Outdoor vice-president of marketing Joe Donaldson explained that the company often does not comment when asked for reasons behind such decisions, and pointed out that Pattison is a privately-held company. The firm is Canada’s largest out-of-home advertising company, and is owned by Vancouver-based Jim Pattison Group.

“Pattison’s official statement is ‘no comment’,” Mr. Donaldson wrote in a follow-up e-mail. Mr. Donaldson did not respond when asked whether anything in Greenpeace’s account was incorrect.

Greenpeace has had its ads rejected in the past. Last year it ran an online campaign for supporters to design ads spoofing a campaign by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) to promote the oil sands. It announced the winner in May, 2011 and plastered posters of the ad around Ottawa. An attempt to buy space for the ad in bus shelters was rejected by Clear Channel Outdoor, said Greenpeace climate and energy campaign co-ordinator Keith Stewart.

Last year’s rejection was understandable because it attributed a quote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper that he did not say, Mr. Stewart said, but he added that rejections are relatively rare because Greenpeace does not like to spend money designing ads if they will not see the light of day.

Pattison has accepted Greenpeace ads in the past. In 2009, it ran a billboard that took its inspiration from a well-publicized series of bus ads run by an atheist group declaring “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” Greenpeace’s version read, “There’s probably no cod. Now let’s stop overfishing & think of the future.”

Greenpeace has deliberately courted controversy through its advertising in the past. In 2010, the U.K. branch of the organization attracted attention for a graphic

that accused candy producers of killing wildlife through their use of palm oil in products. It spoofed Kit Kat’s “Have a break” commercials.

Getting an ad rejected can often be the fastest route to greater publicity, which is why companies often take advantage of the buzz around the SuperBowl to claim their ads were banned from the broadcast. Ashley Madison, a dating website for people who want to cheat on their spouses, and Web-domain registering service and lowest-common-denominator advertiser GoDaddy.com have used this strategy more than once. Their ads often include elements that would normally have little chance of passing broadcast standards.

But Greenpeace’s Mr. Hudema says the organization was surprised its ad was rejected, given the relatively tame content of the billboard design. However, he is hoping its rejection will spark further discussion.

“We are encouraging people to circulate the ad,” he said. “If Pattison doesn’t want to run it we can at least get the awareness out.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/greenpeace-denied-edmonton-billboard-space-for-oil-spill-ad/article4351183/