Cases

Tar Sands and the "Alberta Clipper"

In Brief:

Tar sands development in Alberta is creating an environmental catastrophe. Toxic tailings ponds can be seen from space and plans have been made to strip away forests and peat lands in an area the size of Florida. The process of extracting oil from tar sands is extremely resource-intensive; it requires large amounts of energy for heating, mining, and pumping and uses 2.5 to 4 times the amount of water required for conventional crude oil extraction. Greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands production are three times those of conventional crude oil. Tar-sand oil contains 11 times more sulfur and nickel, six times more nitrogen, and five times more lead than conventional oil. These toxins are released into US air and water when the crude oil is processed into fuels by refineries.

The United States overwhelmingly the dominant market for tar sands oil -- approximately 96% of the oil produced from the tar sands is exported to the U.S. for refining and consumption. On the ground that they are necessary to accommodate what is questionably asserted to be an enormous projected increase in U.S. demand, a network of new oil pipelines is proposed to transport tar sands crude to new and expanded refineries in the Upper Midwest, with possible expansion to reach refineries on the Gulf Coast. This massive investment in new oil infrastructure will threaten communities and wildlife in the pipeline's path. It will contribute significantly to climate change. And it will enable the United States and Canada to extract, transport, refine, and burn this dirty fuel for years to come.

Earthjustice has filed a legal challenge to stop one of the major pipeline projects being proposed: the Alberta Clipper pipeline, which would have the capacity to import 450,000 barrels of tar sand crude oil per day. The US portion of the pipeline will run from the U.S.-Canada border near Neche, North Dakota across northern Minnesota to a terminal in Superior, Wisconsin. The U.S. Department of State issued the permit for the Alberta Clipper pipeline on August 20, 2009. On September 3, Earthjustice filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the permit -- and seeking a court-ordered stay of all activities related to it pending resolution of the case.

Updated: September 10, 2009

Case #1884