PDA

View Full Version : Alberta residents angry after oil spills



roadmaster
06-09-2012, 12:43 PM
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012/06/08/calgary-sundre-oil-spill.html


May the 19- 22,000 barrels spilled into northeastern Alberta's muskeg. They have spills all the time but most are not reported. They still tell the people the water is safe to drink, no boiling advisory. Their fishing and wildlife industry is just about over.

MMC
06-09-2012, 03:04 PM
Wow they don't inform their citizens of Oil Spills into their drinking water? Weren't they saying something about their safe methods?

roadmaster
06-09-2012, 05:09 PM
Wow they don't inform their citizens of Oil Spills into their drinking water? Weren't they saying something about their safe methods?

They have over 800+ leaks per year. If it makes it to the US they should demand double reinforcement pipe-lines. That's one reason I was against it going over a big water supply out west.

Peter1469
06-09-2012, 05:22 PM
These oil contracts typically require oil companies to have spill mitigation equipment nearby. But this is routinely ignored. With the Exxon Valdez, BP was suppose to have oil spill mitigation equipment in the region. There was a nearby uninhabited island where such a station could have been built- but it would have cost ~$1B. So BP didn't do it. Had it done so that spill could have been contained.

Beevee
06-09-2012, 08:50 PM
These oil contracts typically require oil companies to have spill mitigation equipment nearby. But this is routinely ignored. With the Exxon Valdez, BP was suppose to have oil spill mitigation equipment in the region. There was a nearby uninhabited island where such a station could have been built- but it would have cost ~$1B. So BP didn't do it. Had it done so that spill could have been contained.

BP is not in the building business. It's in the money business. Isn't that the capitalism Republicans care so much about?

Far better the $1B goes where it rightfully belongs - to the stockholders.

MMC
06-09-2012, 09:58 PM
BP is not in the building business. It's in the money business. Isn't that the capitalism Republicans care so much about?

Far better the $1B goes where it rightfully belongs - to the stockholders.

Thats par for the course with capitalism.....which those Democrats embrace whole-heartedly as long as they can use other peoples money. Still care to elaborate why the Canadian government doesn't want to do anything to protect it citizens?

Peter1469
06-10-2012, 03:07 AM
BP is not in the building business. It's in the money business. Isn't that the capitalism Republicans care so much about?

Far better the $1B goes where it rightfully belongs - to the stockholders.

Except you are incorrect and demonstrate an elementary understanding of capitalism. Had BP fulfilled its contracts, in the case of the Exxon Valdez and the Deepwater Horizon sites, they would have spent $2B rather than the tens of billions that they spent on clean up and lawsuits.

If the oil companies were smart they would pool their resources and build sites with oil spill mitigation equipment at strategic points around the oil drilling areas and transportation routes.

Beevee
06-10-2012, 07:53 AM
Thats par for the course with capitalism.....which those Democrats embrace whole-heartedly as long as they can use other peoples money. Still care to elaborate why the Canadian government doesn't want to do anything to protect it citizens?

Unlike Americans, Canadians can throw out a government in mid stream. Now why hasn't that happened as yet? Perhaps Albertans have a far better idea of the situation and how to resolve it without histrionics.

Beevee
06-10-2012, 07:55 AM
Except you are incorrect and demonstrate an elementary understanding of capitalism. Had BP fulfilled its contracts, in the case of the Exxon Valdez and the Deepwater Horizon sites, they would have spent $2B rather than the tens of billions that they spent on clean up and lawsuits.

If the oil companies were smart they would pool their resources and build sites with oil spill mitigation equipment at strategic points around the oil drilling areas and transportation routes.

That's your idea of capitalism is it?

My idea of capitalism is to wait for a disaster, then deal with it. Which is probably a 5% chance of happening and worth the risk. You wouldn't have given a shit, if this had occurred in the North Sea and not off the US coast - and well you know it.

MMC
06-10-2012, 08:10 AM
Unlike Americans, Canadians can throw out a government in mid stream. Now why hasn't that happened as yet? Perhaps Albertans have a far better idea of the situation and how to resolve it without histrionics.

Uhm okay.....so again why hasn't the Canadian Government been interesting in protecting their citizens and environment. Moreover don't you think that The Canadians should prove they can handle health and environmental safety issues before trying to conduct buisness on someone else's land. Just assuring people by word of mouth like with the way Democrats do.....does not make for effective government.

Peter1469
06-10-2012, 08:21 AM
That's your idea of capitalism is it?

My idea of capitalism is to wait for a disaster, then deal with it. Which is probably a 5% chance of happening and worth the risk. You wouldn't have given a shit, if this had occurred in the North Sea and not off the US coast - and well you know it.

So your idea of capitalism focuses on short term gain, damn the long term. That is not my vision of capitalism, nor the vision of the father of capitalism, Adam Smith.

waltky
12-15-2016, 01:12 AM
Just in time for Trump to tell oil companies, "Drill baby, drill"...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif
Treated Sawdust May Help Sop Up, Burn Off Arctic Oil Spills
December 14, 2016 — Federal researchers looking for ways to contain petroleum spills in frigid Arctic waters are investigating whether a powder form of humble sawdust can provide a solution.


Researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are testing chemically modified wood flour to determine whether it can enhance burning of crude oil after a spill. Tests of small batches treated with components of vegetable oil indicate the material will grab onto crude oil and help keep it near the surface. PNNL senior research scientist George Bonheyo, who is also a research professor of bioengineer at Washington State University, calls the material “incredibly buoyant, ice repelling and water-repelling.” “It really, really loves oil,” Bonheyo said. “It absorbs at least five times its weight in oil.”


http://gdb.voanews.com/B83250DB-BD39-406F-8CD7-BCEA25E4BD9F_w250_r0_s.jpg
Oil spreads on top of water with a slushy crust.

Environmental groups say challenges with cleaning an oil spill are amplified in the Arctic and it's one of their primary objections to drilling off Alaska's northern coast. The location is far from ports and other infrastructure taken for granted at drilling sites such as the Gulf of Mexico. Storms are fierce and Arctic waters can be open, frozen or partially covered with ice ranging from floes to slush.

Benefits of burning

Mechanical recovery has not proven effective because ice can jam skimmers. Researchers at the PNNL lab have focused on burning and bioremediation. “The point with doing a burn is that it allows you within a matter of minutes to remove upward of 90 percent of the oil from the water,” Bonheyo said. To burn, he said, untreated crude oil must be fresh and at least 3mm thick, a little more than two stacked dimes. Early results from lab tests of the chemically treated sawdust indicate the material will help keep an oil slick together in the face of buffeting by wind, waves or ice, Bonheyo said, and allow it to burn in thinner amounts. “We know we can get below 1mm,” he said. “We don't know exactly what the minimum thickness is.”


http://gdb.voanews.com/7FA2EA42-ADD5-48A0-95B4-C1D184CBFE7E_w250_r0_s.jpg
A controlled oil spill burn at PNNL in Richland, Washington.

Crude oil weathers when absorbed by the material, but remains buoyant for at least four months. “It works very well at holding a spill together. It seems to act kind of like a wick, allowing the volatile, flammable components to rise up to the surface to facilitate an efficient burn,” Bonheyo said.

Burn tests (http://www.voanews.com/a/treated-sawdust-sop-up-burn-off-arctic-oil-spills/3636607.html)