The Alberta Tar Sands - The Gift that Keeps on Giving
Friday, March 4, 2011 at 12:01AM
El Guapo in Environment, Take Action, alberta tar sands, all against the haul, enbridge pipeline

Along with megaloads rolling through the scenic byways of Idaho and Montana and Enbridges's plan to build dual pipelines to and from the BC coast, the Canadian company TransCanada hopes to build a new pipeline that would bring "oil" from the Alberta Tar Sands to refineries in Texas.

Opposition is building across the Great Plains to this project despite the economic benefits being touted by Transcanada.

New research has just emerged that raw tar sands oil is much more corrosive than standard crude resulting in greater risks for pipeline failures. The report said lines carrying product derived from tar sands are 16 times more likely to leak than lines carrying ordinary crude. Just so happens this new proposed pipeline would travel beneath the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska, a huge, shallow water table that provides drinking water for about 2 million people in eight states.

Friends of the Earth has an overview of the project along with a number of ways you can take action.

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