500 Ducks Die after Landing on Tailings Pond
Only
a week after Ed Stelmach announced his government would be spending $25
million dollars to paint the black tar sands green, more than 500
migratory ducks are dying after landing on a toxic Syncrude tailings
pond.
NOW is the time to demand ACTION from
the Albertan government! The tar sands are a dirty, toxic, and
environmentally devastating megaproject that endangers not only the
lives of animals, but of people living in downstream communities and
Albertans working and living in the tar sands region.
The
tar sands lie along a major migratory bird pathway, and tailings ponds
are a feature of all open-pit mines in the tar sands region. This
development is clearly in contravention to the Migratory Birds
Convention Act, which states:
5.1 (1) No person or vessel shall deposit a substance that is harmful to migratory birds, or permit such a substance to be deposited, in waters or an area frequented by migratory birds or in a place from which the substance may enter such waters or such an area.
As
the Alberta government continues to approve all proposed tar sands
projects (no proposal to date has ever been rejected), Alberta is
looking at having tar sands tailings lakes which combined will cover an
area greater than five Sylvan Lakes (a lake the size 42.8 square
kilometers).
After this accident, the
Alberta government is painting itself as an unfortunate David to the
growing Green Goliath – a movement that is calling for a no new tar
sands approvals. What our government should be asking is, if it took a
whistleblower to report this disaster, how many more have gone
unreported in the past? How is the Alberta government going to monitor
future tar sands projects if it can’t even reliably keep watch over
existing ones?
ACTION is needed to ensure
our political decision-makers know that the Canadian people are calling
with one voice for a TAR SANDS TIME OUT! It is time to
stop unmitigated tar sands development!
TAKE ACTION: Whether you’re a resident of Alberta or of Canada, YOU can
have an effect on what happens in this province! Help us increase the
pressure on our Premier and Prime Minister this week!
If you are a resident of Alberta:
CALL Premier Stelmach’s office at (780) 427 2251 and demand:
- NO NEW TAR SANDS APPROVALS. No more animals or people should have to die to feed our addiction to oil.
-
A full investigation to be conducted of what caused this tragedy to
occur. Request that the inquiry include the Albertan government in its
scope. - That the $25 million his
government intends to use for advertisements that paint Alberta as a
Green province to be put toward REAL environmental action in this
province – investment in renewables!
Sign your support online at www.nonewapprovals.ca
If you are living outside of Alberta (and in Alberta too!)
CALL Prime Minister Harper’s office at (613) 992-4211 and demand:
- NO NEW TAR SANDS APPROVALS. No more animals or people should have to die to feed our addiction to oil.
- Tar
Sands development may be in contravention of the Migratory Birds
Convention Act and no additional tailings ponds should be given
approval. - That the federal government
stand up and take action for environmental and human rights abuses that
are happening in its watch. This is a national and an international
issue and the Canadian Government needs to be a player in decisions
made about the dirty tar sands.
Sign your support online at www.nonewapprovals.ca
THANK YOU!
For more information on the Tar Sands visit www.tarsandstimeout.ca!
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Turning tar sands into oil requires almost as much energy input as they contain at the end of the processing – so they are barely a “source” of energy. To date, vast quantities of natural gas have been used to make the steam to process the tar sands to create something resembling petroleum, but natural gas has its own supply problems that make dedicating gas to tar production difficult to maintain. There are serious proposals to build nuclear reactors next to the tar sands, which is a sign of lunacy, to be polite about it.
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Angelinjones