Tar Sands in New England Clears Another Hurdle

A map showing how oil companies are planning to move tar sands through New England for export.
Late last week, the Canadian National Energy Board approved a major step in a thinly-veiled effort to bring tar sands through New England for export out of South Portland, Maine. The Board approved the partial reversal of Line 9 from Sarnia, ON to Montreal, the key link in allowing tar sands to flow into New England.

While the approval only covers light crude, it is believed Enbridge could easily obtain future permission to move tar sands east.

“Canada is desperate for avenues to move tar sands to market, and once a pathway for oil to move from Western Canada into New England is opened up, it is only a matter of time it used to carry tar sands,” says National Wildlife Federation senior attorney Jim Murphy, who is based in Vermont.

Conservation groups are warning New Englanders that Enbridge is attempting to get approval incrementally to avoid attention. It’s part of their sneaky new playbook. Their goal is to pipe corrosive, high-carbon tar sands oil through environmentally important areas of New England. Enbridge has an awful record of spilling more than 800 times since 1999.

Learn more about this proposal and the risks to waterways and wildlife here.

 

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Published: July 30, 2012