XPost: can.politics, bc.politics, ab.politics   
   XPost: edm.general   
   From: gregcarrsober@gmail.com   
      
   On 03/02/2014 5:39 PM, ConɀƦConɀ wrote:   
   > And the atmosphere/environment of much of Canada.  You need to get your   
   > f**cking under control - or risk having to move to other provinces to   
   > survive your pursuit of bitumen for the slim dime.   
      
   THE SKY IS FALLING THE SKY IS FALLING   
   > _______________________________________________   
   > Postmedia News - February 3, 2014   
   >   
   >   
   > Satellite data sound alarm on safety of bitumen extraction   
   >   
   >   
   >   
   > Satellite data sound alarm on safety of bitumen extraction   
   >   
   > In a smaller leak in August 2013, bitumen seeped up through a fissure   
   > near Primrose oilsand sites north of Cold Lake, Alta.   
   >   
   > [Photograph by: ED KAISER/Postmedia News , Postmedia News]   
   >   
   > OTTAWA — Satellite imagery used by the federal government to review a   
   > major bitumen leak last year in Alberta has found the project’s   
   > steam-based extraction caused “measurable levels of ground deformation   
   > in the area of the leak” at a rate 10 times faster than other oilsands   
   > operations.   
   >   
   > The data obtained from satellite observations — and presented to senior   
   > officials at Natural Resources Canada last fall — are sparking new   
   > questions about the incident at a Canadian Natural Resources Limited   
   > (CNRL) operation in northeast Alberta and the safety of bitumen extraction.   
   >   
   > The information is also sounding more alarm bells for the nearby Cold   
   > Lake First Nations, who are worried various oilsands operations in the   
   > area are contaminating local groundwater and damaging their traditional   
   > lands.   
      
   If they have legitimate grievances they can sue in court plenty of well   
   trained aboriginal lawyers.   
   >   
   > Briefing materials prepared for the deputy minister of Natural Resources   
   > Canada, and obtained by Postmedia News under access-to-information   
   > legislation, show the federal government used satellite imagery from   
   > RADARSAT-2 to study the extent of ground deformation — caused by   
   > steam-based extraction — in the vicinity of a major bitumen leak in June   
   > 2013 at CNRL’s Primrose operation approximately 45 kilometres northwest   
   > of Cold Lake, Alta.   
   >   
   > The CNRL project is a thermal in situ operation that sees high-pressure   
   > steam injected into the ground down a wellbore to reduce the viscosity   
   > of the oilsands product and allow the bitumen to be pumped to the   
   > surface (in what’s called cyclic steam stimulation).   
   >   
   > After the bitumen emulsion leak was reported by the Alberta Energy   
   > Regulator on June 24, 2013, the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth   
   > Observation (CCMEO, which is located within Natural Resources Canada)   
   > used what are called earth observation techniques to assess the bitumen   
   > leak, and discovered subsidence and uplift of the land over several years.   
   >   
   > “Results obtained using imagery from Canada’s RADARSAT-2 (satellite)   
   > indicate that steam-based extraction caused measurable levels of ground   
   > deformation in the area of the leak, within the 2009-2013 period,” say   
   > September 2013 briefing notes prepared for NRCan’s deputy minister, who   
   > reports to federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver.   
   >   
   > The satellite data found that between 2009 and 2013, the values of   
   > ground deformation (both subsidence and uplift) at the CNRL operation   
   > were often in the range of 10-30 centimetres over various sampled 24-day   
   > periods.   
   >   
   > “Preliminary analysis also shows that the rate of ground deformation is   
   > approximately 10 times faster than changes observed by CCMEO in the Fort   
   > McMurray area, which uses the lower-pressure steam-assisted gravity   
   > drainage (SAGD) method,” say the briefing notes.   
   >   
   > “While the deformation rates observed here are high relative to the SAGD   
   > steam-based operations, we cannot at this point indicate that these are   
   > atypical of this process in this region and/or are related to the   
   > bitumen leak.”   
   >   
   > More than one million litres of bitumen has seeped to the surface from   
   > the major leak, which still continues several months later, albeit very   
   > slowly during the winter months.   
   >   
   > There have been at least three other separate, much smaller, leaks to   
   > the surface reported at different locations in CNRL’s Primrose   
   > operations. As of Jan. 10, 69,700 tons of impacted soil and vegetation   
   > had been removed from all the leak sites.   
   >   
   > The Alberta Energy Regulator, which was informed of the satellite data   
   > and associated findings last fall, is still conducting its investigation   
   > into the major leak.   
   > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^   
   >   
   >   
   > The regulator is trying to determine whether the bitumen leaked through   
   > cracks in the rock above the deposit and was driven to the surface by   
   > the high-pressure steam pumped underground in the extraction process.   
   >   
   > CNRL has since been ordered to halt its steaming operations at the site   
   > of the leaks.   
   >   
   > The company blames the major leak on a well failure and is spending $40   
   > million to clean it up.   
      
   Sounds like they are taking serious measures to clean this mistake up   
   which is good.   
     It was ordered to drain a small lake on the Cold   
   > Lake Air Weapons Range to find a way to contain bitumen that was seeping   
   > into the water.   
   >   
   > The Alberta Energy Regulator, however, said earlier this month it   
   > doesn’t necessarily share CNRL’s view that a well failure is solely to   
   > blame, although its investigation continues. The regulator’s data show   
   > there are at least eight different cyclic steam stimulation bitumen   
   > operations throughout the Cold Lake, Athabasca and Peace River oilsands   
   > formations in northern Alberta.   
   >   
   > The nearby Cold Lake First Nations says details about the land   
   > deformation — and it occurring at a much faster rate than other oilsands   
   > operations — have not been shared with them.   
   >   
   > Cold Lake First Nations Councillor Sally Scanie said council members   
   > have done a fly-over of the major leak but have not been allowed on the   
   > land to see it up-close. They remain worried the oilsands operations   
   > could be contaminating their ground water, and irrevocably damaging the   
   > land and future hunting.   
   >   
   > “It has always been a concern for Cold Lake First Nations,” Scanie said.   
   > “Continuous abuse of the Mother Earth is just coming to the surface now,   
   > and it could get worse. Do we anticipate it to get worse? Of course we   
   > do, and that’s why we’re raising concerns.”   
   >   
   > A spokesperson for CNRL said the cyclic steam stimulation extraction   
   > technique has been used in the Cold Lake area for more than 30 years,   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)