We have much more to do and your continued support is needed now more than ever.
You Can Help Heal the Tar Sands By Stopping the Keystone XL Pipeline
In 2008, 1,600 ducks died after landing in the tarry goo and more recently, in 2010 over 550 ducks died after landing in the pond. Biologist Colleen Cassady St. Clair from the University of Alberta noted in her report about mass duck deaths that these fatal bird landings will only increase because of increased tar sands mining in a region that is home to more than a million migratory birds each year and an increase in severe storms caused by climate change. These lakes don’t contain water in any form we as know it. They are a mixture of clay, leftover bitumen, hydrocarbons with known carcinogens and toxic heavy metals. If tar sands expansion plans are realized, it will forever undermine the ecological health of 140,000 square kilometres of boreal forest, an area the size of Florida and 20 per cent of Alberta’s land base.

During the walk, people covered their mouth with respiratory masks, handkerchiefs and shirts. For some people, the hydrocarbon fumes were so overwhelming they started vomiting. Some had to leave the walk to get away from the fumes. One First Nations elder silenced the crowd with her sobs of grief as she looked over destruction.
Each and every one of the politicians pushing for this pipeline should have to walk that 14 km Syncrude “Interpretive” Loop, breath the toxic air, see the toxic tailing lakes, look out at the barren wasteland and see for themselves what our addiction to dirty fuel is doing to wildlife, people and communities in the region.
Oil spills happen frequently around the tar sands operations. When I was there, a spill was discovered the same day as the Healing Walk on the Athabasca River. And although we had pictures of it, the government and industry denied there was one, saying they couldn’t find evidence of a spill. Fish in the river are deformed from the regular oil spills and the toxic chemicals from the tar sands.
TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline is a needed piece of infrastructure for this industry to continue destroying habitat and poisoning water in Canada. Scientists know that tar sands development is a climate disaster. And industry says that it needs the Keystone XL Pipeline to undertake a major expansion of the tar sands mining operation.
Everyone one of us in the United States can help our Canadian allies in stopping the expansion of tar sands mining in Canada by telling President Obama to deny the Keystone XL Permit.
For a full gallery of the images from the walk, you can go to the Healing Walk Flickr Page to see more amazing photographs.
To watch a short video of the march, please click here or watch below.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/69882514[/vimeo]
