Shale Gas Issues from Various Jurisdictions

Shale Gas Issues From Various Jurisdictions ...... 5 Foreword ...... 5 Calls for Moratoriums and Bans ...... 7 Contamination and Science ...... 8 Hundreds of Offshore Fracking Wells Dump Billions of Gallons of Oil Waste Into Gulf ...... 8 Texas Promised 34 Years Ago to Track Oilfield Waste in Aquifers. It Didn't...... 8 Renewable Energy ...... 9 Record 46% of UK's electricity generated by clean energy sources in 2015 ...... 9 Solar Cost Hits World's New Low, Half the Price of Coal ...... 9 Science and Health ...... 10 Fracking linked to asthma attacks in Hopkins study ...... 10 Warming Atlantic Ocean leads to rise in marine bacteria ...... 10 Texas Promised 34 Years Ago to Track Oilfield Waste in Aquifers. It Didn't...... 10 Living Near a Fracking Site Is Tied to Migraines, Fatigue ...... 11 New Fracking Study Pulls Rug Out From Under “Safe” Fracking ...... 11 List of 887 peer reviewed documents from Physicians Scientists and Engineers ...... 11 Economics, Legal, and Investigations ...... 12 CA utility guilty of 6 federal charges from 2010 gas pipeline blast ...... 12 None of the world’s top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use 12 Regulations ...... 13 Environment and Enjoyment of Property ...... 14 Polar ice reveals secrets of carbon-climate feedbacks ...... 14 Carbon cycling was much smaller during last ice age than in today's climate: study ...... 14 The politics of health protection and glyphosates in the forest ...... 14 Here Are 7 Terrifying Charts That Show Exactly What We’re Doing to the Planet ...... 15 2015 State of the Climate: Highlights ...... 15 NOAA: 'Earth's Fever Rises' as Climate Records Shattered Worldwide ...... 15 Thom Hartmann , How TPP Threatens Our Climate - Screwed News ...... 16 Thom Hartmann The Green Report, Michael Mann - Can Humanity Survive Climate Change? ... 16 NOAA scientists report mass die-off of invertebrates at East Flower Garden Bank in Gulf of Mexico ...... 16 Are We Looking At A Mass Extinction Event? ...... 16 Thom Hartmann, The Big Picture - Are We Looking At A Mass Extinction Event? ...... 17 Hydrogen: Life’s Primary Driver ...... 17 Information Morning - Fredericton, Kathy Mills - Climate Change ...... 17 Decline of fishing in Lake Tanganyika 'due to warming' ...... 17 Inaction on Climate Change Could Cost Millennials $8.8 Trillion in Lifetime Income ...... 18 'A lit fuse': Ancient carbon slowly seeping from permafrost could ignite climate-change bomb ...... 18 Methane emissions proportional to permafrost carbon thawed in Arctic lakes since the 1950s ..... 18 Shocking New Maps Show Mankind’s Changing Global Footprint ...... 19 Noam Chomsky: Indigenous People Are In The Lead ...... 19 Nation’s Largest Wind Project Gets Approval ...... 19 Redacted Tonight - Flooding and Climate Change ...... 20 Extreme weather like the Louisiana floods should serve as a warning ...... 20 It's Official: The Anthropocene Epoch Is Here ...... 21 Early onset of industrial-era warming across the oceans and continents ...... 21 3 Tropical Storms Threaten U.S. for First Time in Recorded History ...... 21 The Most Disturbing Climate Change-Events We've Seen Yet ...... 22 Crystal Serenity’s journey through Northwest Passage draws excitement, climate change fears .. 22 Government, Meetings, News, and Letters ...... 23 Information Morning - Fredericton The Glyphosate Report ...... 23

1 Enbridge and N.B. government hope to settle out of court ...... 23 Group Asks Compromised Board Members to Step Down from NEB Panel Reviewing Energy East ...... 23 UN declaration will allow pipeline veto: N.B. Aboriginal leaders ...... 24 Inaction on Climate Change Could Cost Millennials $8.8 Trillion in Lifetime Income ...... 24 Eastern premiers, New England governors meeting focuses on energy ...... 24 New Brunswick News ...... 25 Interactive map of New Brunswick's shale gas industry ...... 25 Indian Affairs : A Collection of Manuscripts : 1761 - 1864...... 25 Maritime News ...... 26 Once-bountiful fishery collapses as oil leak persists in Newfoundland bay ...... 26 Canadian News ...... 27 Other News ...... 28 Massive Explosion Rocks Washington State Natural Gas Plant ...... 28 Large explosion rocks Washington natural gas plant; 5 workers hurt, 400 residents evacuated .... 28 Cost estimate of Aliso Canyon gas leak hits $717 million ...... 28 Nation’s Largest Wind Project Gets Approval ...... 28 Water ...... 29 Water demand up as heat dries out private wells in Nova Scotia ...... 29 Water levels reach record lows in Ontario cottage country ...... 29 The crisis ...... 29 What Happens to the U.S. Midwest When the Water's Gone? ...... 30 Canadian, U.S. mayors seek to challenge diversion of water from Great Lakes ...... 30 Fracking and Earthquakes ...... 31 BC Hydro officials worry about risks of earthquakes triggered by fracking ...... 31 EPA: North Texas Earthquakes Likely Linked to Oil and Gas Drilling ...... 31 Oil and Pipelines ...... 32 Idle No More speaks out against oil spill ...... 32 Saudi Arabia throws down the gauntlet to Iran in battle for Asian oil market ...... 32 Saskatchewan oil spill could increase public scepticism ...... 32 This Canadian Oil Ghost Town Is For Sale ...... 33 Connacher Oil gets court OK to put oil sands leases, plants up for sale ...... 33 Penn West avoids bankruptcy on sale of Saskatchewan oil assets ...... 33 Hydro-Québec chose sidelines at pipeline hearings. Then its lawyer joined TransCanada ...... 34 Saskatchewan government "unlikely" to clean all of Husky oil spill ...... 34 Slump in oil prices gives pause to rally on global stock markets ...... 35 Energy East Is Anything But Canadian Oil For Canadians ...... 36 Martine Ouellet wants to block Energy East pipeline if elected ...... 36 Fears of oil spill fuel Quebec opposition to Energy East pipeline – by Shawn McCarthy Globe and Mail ...... 36 Husky oil spill in the North Saskatchewan River strengthens opposition to Energy East crossing the Ottawa River ...... 37 Canada pipeline panel apologizes, releases records on meeting with Charest ...... 37 Montreal has "No plan B" if major oil spill were to happen, experts say ...... 38 Energy East says Husky oil spill ‘rare’ ahead of NEB public hearings ...... 39 Saskatchewan Heavy Oil Spill Highlights Pipeline Risks ...... 39 Pipeline statistics ...... 39 Alberta pipelines: 5 major oil spills in recent history ...... 39 How to take an oil rig apart ...... 40 Louisiana Parish Hit by Third Oil Spill in Ten Days As Pressure Grows To Hold Oil and Gas Industry Accountable for Coastal Damage ...... 40

2 Fossil Fuels Must Stay in Ground to Stop Warming, Scientists Say ...... 40 Energy East’s political pressure point? Fear of a spill ...... 41 Risk of Energy East to Water and Atlantic Coast Too Great Groups Tell NEB on First Day of Hearings in Saint John ...... 41 Canaport LNG raises concerns about ship traffic from Energy East ...... 42 Canadian military voices concerns over Energy East pipeline ...... 42 Information Morning - Fredericton, Sarah Kiley - NEB Process ...... 42 Information Morning - Fredericton, Corbett/Ritchie - NEB Hearing ...... 42 N.B. Mi'kmaq 'deeply concerned' about Energy East pipeline impact on treaty rights ...... 43 Energy East pipeline requires First Nations consent, interveners tell NEB ...... 43 Video - Matt Abbot discusses Energy East Hearings ...... 44 National Energy Board Past Hearings ...... 44 TransCanada vows to comply with NEB ruling on Bay of Fundy tanker traffic ...... 44 1000 fishermen are thrown overboard by the NEB on Day #1 Energy East hearing ...... 45 Concerns of 1000 Fishermen Denied by NEB at Energy East Hearing #1 of 2 (Aug 8, 2016) ...... 45 Concerns of 1000 Fishermen Denied by NEB at Energy East Hearing #2 of 2 (Aug 8, 2016) ...... 45 Press Conference before NEB Hearing on Energy East, #1 of 3 (Saint John, August 8, 2016) ..... 45 Press Conference before NEB Hearing on Energy East, #2 of 3 (Saint John, August 8, 2016) ..... 46 Press Conference before NEB Hearing on Energy East, #3 of 3 (Saint John, August 8, 2016) ... 46 Ontario Energy Board updates consultation requirements for Energy East pipeline ...... 46 Media Silent as Native Americans Successfully Halt Construction on Oil Pipeline ...... 46 Proposed Energy East Pipeline continuing to divide the people of western New Brunswick ...... 46 New Documents Show Oil Industry Even More Evil Than We Thought ...... 47 TransCanada willing to change Energy East pipeline route, official says ...... 47 Energy East Would be a Bad Deal for New Brunswick ...... 48 Crude Awakening: 37 years of oil spills in Alberta ...... 48 Native American Pipeline Protest Halts Construction in N. Dakota ...... 48 Group Asks Compromised Board Members to Step Down from NEB Panel Reviewing Energy East ...... 49 UN declaration will allow pipeline veto: N.B. Aboriginal leaders ...... 49 Excuse us, but...... 50 NEB bans critics from speaking out about accusations of bias at Montreal hearings ...... 50 Intervenor claims pipeline companies were using substandard pipe...... 50 Did spin doctors convince the NEB to change its tune on exploding pipeline? ...... 51 Amnesty International to observe pipeline protest ...... 51 National Energy Board Past Hearings Saint John and Fredericton ...... 51 Rescue Operation Underway as Transocean Rig Smashes into Scottish Shore ...... 52 NEB to consider response to bias perceptions on Energy East panel ...... 52 The National Energy Board is fundamentally broken...... 52 Énergie Est : Coderre demande le report des audiences de l'Office national de l'énergie ...... 53 East Energy: Coderre request the postponement of the hearings of the National Energy Board ... 53 Tar Sands In The Atlantic Ocean: Transcanada’s Proposed Energy East Pipeline ...... 53 Tribal Rights & the Dakota Access Pipeline - Thom Hartmann, The Green Report ...... 54 Rewrite: the Protests at Standing Rock ...... 54 Canada pipeline panel apologizes, releases records on meeting with Charest ...... 55 Temporary water line damaged in Prince Albert ...... 55 Tripod Blockade Halts Coal Train in Bellingham, WA ...... 55 Downeast LNG terminal proposal in Maine dismissed ...... 56 Ruptured Pipeline Spills Oil Into Yellowstone River - 2011 ...... 56 Wait until Monday, Husky tells oil-impacted First Nation ...... 57 Esquimalt chief raises alarm on cleanup weaknesses in wake of diesel spill ...... 57

3 NEB review hearing into Energy East pipeline heads to hostile territory ...... 57 Gunter: Montreal mayor Denis Coderre continues attack on Energy East pipeline ...... 58 Texas Ranch Owner Battles TransCanada to Restore Her Pipeline-Scarred Land ...... 58 National Energy Board fights to restore legitimacy as Quebec hearings begin ...... 58 Montreal mayor cancels appearance to open proceedings, calling them a 'circus' ...... 59 Montreal NEB hearings postponed after all hell breaks loose ...... 59 Parts of TransCanada pipeline network made of substandard material: documents ...... 59 Intervenor claims pipeline companies were using substandard pipe...... 60 Did spin doctors convince the NEB to change its tune on exploding pipeline? ...... 60 NEB indefinitely suspends Energy East hearings ...... 60 Des pièces de pipelines douteuses ...... 61 Parts of questionable pipelines ...... 61 The National Energy Board has a credibility issue it can no longer ignore ...... 62 Chipman mayor backs Energy East pipeline as rail traffic jumps ...... 62 Rail, pipeline and climate disasters are symptoms of fossil fuel addiction ...... 63 Trudeau's new pipeline process: worse than National Energy Board? ...... 63 Pipeline Explosion Kills 10 Campers in New Mexico ...... 64 Local environmental group to challenge Energy East pipeline project at NEB hearing ...... 64 'The Mother of All Risks': Insurance Giants Call on G20 to Stop Bankrolling Fossil Fuels ...... 65 Residents concerned about possible fracking near Lake Houston ...... 65 Mining ...... 66 Mount Polley mine still at risk for future tailings breach: analyst ...... 66 Mount Polley Mine Disaster Two Years In: ‘It’s Worse Than It’s Ever Been’ ...... 66 Two years after Mount Polley, questions about gov’t decisions linger...... 66 Video: Watch 4 Billion Gallons of Mining Waste Pour Into Pristine B.C. Waterways ...... 67 Samarco dam failure in Brazil 'caused by design flaws' ...... 67 Forestry ...... 69 Forbidden Forest - National Film Board of Canada ...... 69 NB forest in crisis, provincial government in denial [corrected] ...... 69 Glyphosate protesters set up camp in Kedgwick River clearcut ...... 69 Video Links ...... 70 Large explosion rocks Washington natural gas plant; 5 workers hurt, 400 residents evacuated .... 70 Forbidden Forest - National Film Board of Canada ...... 70 Thom Hartmann , How TPP Threatens Our Climate - Screwed News ...... 70 Thom Hartmann The Green Report, Michael Mann - Can Humanity Survive Climate Change? ... 70 Thom Hartmann, The Big Picture - Are We Looking At A Mass Extinction Event? ...... 70 Concerns of 1000 Fishermen Denied by NEB at Energy East Hearing #1 of 2 (Aug 8, 2016) ...... 70 Concerns of 1000 Fishermen Denied by NEB at Energy East Hearing #2 of 2 (Aug 8, 2016) ...... 70 Press Conference before NEB Hearing on Energy East, #1 of 3 (Saint John, August 8, 2016) ..... 71 Press Conference before NEB Hearing on Energy East, #2 of 3 (Saint John, August 8, 2016) ..... 71 Press Conference before NEB Hearing on Energy East, #3 of 3 (Saint John, August 8, 2016) ... 71 Tribal Rights & the Dakota Access Pipeline - Thom Hartmann, The Green Report ...... 71

4 Shale Gas Issues From Various Jurisdictions

Foreword

The following documents have been collected by searching the web for information related to shale gas and from the Following web sites and

New Brunswick is NOT For Sale http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_132079906855023

New Brunswickers Concerned About Shale Gas http://www.facebook.com/ccnbshalegas

Ban Hydraulic Fracturing (hydro-fracking) In New Brunswick, Canada http://www.facebook.com/BanFrackingNB

Know Shale Gas NB – Support the legal action to stop Shale Gas in NB http://noshalegasnb.ca/news

NoShaleGasNB http://www.facebook.com/NoShaleGasNB

Shale Gas Info http://www.facebook.com/shalegas

Upriver Environment Watch http://www.facebook.com/groups/UpRiver/

Fracidental Drillers http://www.facebook.com/groups/133930663364584/

Fracking Research and New Brunswick, Canada http://nbfrackingresearch.com/

Facebook Groups: USA - A FACEBOOK FULL OF FRACTIVISTS: State-by-State Listings http://keeptapwatersafe.org/facebook-groups-usa/

Propublica – Links to many articles on Fracking http://www.propublica.org/series/fracking

Another good site: Fracking, Shale Gas and Health http://frackingandhealth.ca/

Is Our Forest Really Ours? http://isourforestreallyours.com/Isourforestreallyours/Welcome.html http://isourforestreallyours.com/Isourforestreallyours/Start_here.html https://www.facebook.com/groups/132079906855023/#!/groups/258525050949366/

More facebook information https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=617426124942641

5 United Opponents of Fracking International http://portjervisny.com/uaf.htm

SHALE GAS ALERTS NEW BRUNSWICK https://www.facebook.com/groups/112468105590081/? hc_location=stream#!/groups/112468105590081/

New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance / anti-gaz de schiste du N.-B http://www.noshalegasnb.ca/our-resources/

6 Calls for Moratoriums and Bans

7 Contamination and Science

Hundreds of Offshore Fracking Wells Dump Billions of Gallons of Oil Waste Into Gulf

As the U.S. shale industry comes under increasing scrutiny for its environmental and health impact, it has emerged that the U.S. has approved fracking offshore leading to billions of gallons of wastewater to be dumped at sea.

The Center for Biological Diversity has released federal documents that reveal that officials approved more than 1,200 offshore fracks in 630 different wells in the four years from 2010 to 2014 in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Gulf of Mexico has already been suffering from decades of conventional oil and gas drilling as well as the aftermath of the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout in 2010, when millions of gallons of oil were spilt.

The newly released documents reveal that fracking occurred off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama with no public involvement and with no site-specific tests undertaken beforehand.

In so doing, the industry was also allowed to dump a staggering 76 billion gallons of waste fluid into the sea in 2014 alone. http://www.ecowatch.com/offshore-fracking-wells-gulf-1915520170.html

Texas Promised 34 Years Ago to Track Oilfield Waste in Aquifers. It Didn't.

Have oil and gas companies injected toxic materials into Texas groundwater sources?

State regulators don't know, even though they agreed in 1982 to track injections into zones that could hold underground sources of drinking water, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune.

Only now are Texas officials combing through thousands of permits issued since then in an effort to account for these injections — a revelation that has stirred concerns among environmentalists and groundwater managers.

The Railroad Commission, the state's oil and gas regulator, acknowledges in a letter that it permitted injections into at least a "handful" of zones fitting the broad legal definition of drinking water sources, but it does not know how many times that has happened over the past decades. https://www.texastribune.org/2016/08/24/texas-promised-34-years-ago-track-oilfield-waste-a/

8 Renewable Energy

Record 46% of UK's electricity generated by clean energy sources in 2015

Official figures show low-carbon sources accounted for almost half of national electricity supply last year - outstripping coal for the first time

In total, low-carbon power sources, which produce little in the way of greenhouse gas emissions, supplied a record 46% of the UK’s electricity in 2015, as the amount of renewables grew and nuclear generation rose after outages in late 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jul/28/record-46-of-uks-electricity-generated-by-clean- energy-sources-in-2015

Solar Cost Hits World's New Low, Half the Price of Coal

Chile awarded a contract to sell solar power for $29.10 per megawatt hour (MWh), the lowest ever across the planet.

"This is the lowest price ever seen, for any renewable technology," an analyst told Bloomberg. The low price is possible due to the rapid fall in cost of solar technology and the 12 MW solar plant's location in the ideal conditions of Chile's Atacama Desert. http://www.ecowatch.com/solar-price-chile-1982242311.html

9 Science and Health

Fracking linked to asthma attacks in Hopkins study

Asthma sufferers who live near wells in which hydraulic fracturing is used to extract natural gas are up to four times more likely to have an asthma attack than those who live farther away, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins University.

The findings are the latest in a string of studies that have linked health problems to proximity to such wells, and come as Maryland prepares to lift a moratorium next year and issue permits for the controversial method of extraction known as "fracking."

"Ours is the first to look at asthma, but we now have several studies suggesting adverse health outcomes related to the drilling of unconventional natural gas wells," said Sara G. Rasmussen, a study leader and doctoral candidate in the department of environmental health sciences at Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health. http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/maryland-health/bs-hs-asthma-and-fracking-20160728-story.html

Warming Atlantic Ocean leads to rise in marine bacteria

Rising sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic are likely to be behind a recent surge in cases of diarrhoeal diseases from marine bacteria in northern Europe and the US east coast, a new study says.

In their analysis that goes back to 1958, the researchers show that levels of Vibrio bacteria – which can cause illness in humans and even death – have been increasing as sea surface temperatures rise. https://www.carbonbrief.org/warming-atlantic-ocean-leads-to-rise-in-marine-bacteria? utm_source=Daily+Carbon+Briefing&utm_campaign=2feae5ec66- cb_daily&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_876aab4fd7-2feae5ec66-303433177

Texas Promised 34 Years Ago to Track Oilfield Waste in Aquifers. It Didn't.

Have oil and gas companies injected toxic materials into Texas groundwater sources?

State regulators don't know, even though they agreed in 1982 to track injections into zones that could hold underground sources of drinking water, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune.

10 Living Near a Fracking Site Is Tied to Migraines, Fatigue

Living near a natural gas hydraulic fracturing site is associated with increased rates of sinus problems, migraines and fatigue, according to new research.

Scientists had 7,785 randomly selected participants in a large Pennsylvania health system fill out health questionnaires. About a quarter met criteria for one or more of three disorders: chronic rhinosinusitis, migraine headaches and severe fatigue.

The study, in Environmental Health Perspectives, ranked participants according to how closely they lived to fracking sites and larger wells. Compared with those in the bottom one-quarter by this measure, those in the top one-quarter were 49 percent more likely to have sinusitis and migraines, 88 percent more likely to have sinusitis and fatigue, 95 percent more likely to have migraines and fatigue, and 84 percent more likely to have all three symptoms. http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2016/08/25/living-near-a-fracking-site-tied-to-migraines-fatigue/? _r=0&referer=https%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FB4ZhKIW05x

New Fracking Study Pulls Rug Out From Under “Safe” Fracking

Last year, researchers at Johns Hopkins University linked fracking to increased risk of premature birth in Pennsylvania (fracking is short for hydrofracturing, a formerly unconventional gas and oil drilling method that involves pumping high volumes of chemical brine into shale formations).

In a stunning twist of irony, earlier this summer researchers at the same school found an increased risk of asthma linked to fracking in Pennsylvania — just in time for the Pennsylvania-based company Mylan to face withering criticism for price gouging related to its EpiPen asthma relief product.

The latest study from Johns Hopkins just turned up this week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Here’s the money quote:

Pennsylvania residents with the highest exposure to active natural gas wells operated by the hydraulic fracturing — or fracking — industry are nearly twice as likely to suffer from a combination of migraine headaches, chronic nasal and sinus symptoms, and severe fatigue. https://cleantechnica.com/2016/08/26/new-fracking-study-pulls-rug-out-from-under-safe-fracking/

List of 887 peer reviewed documents from Physicians Scientists and Engineers https://www.zotero.org/groups/pse_study_citation_database/items

11 Economics, Legal, and Investigations

CA utility guilty of 6 federal charges from 2010 gas pipeline blast

California’s largest utility company, PG&E, was found guilty on six charges in a natural gas pipeline explosion criminal case. The convictions for violating safety regulations stem from a 2010 fatal blast that killed eight and injured 58.

The San-Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company faced a total of 12 federal charges, of which 11 were of violating the US Pipeline Safety Act of 1968 and one of obstructing an investigation into the deadly San Bruno pipeline explosion.

"For years, we have been saying that PG&E acted in a criminal fashion and now that has been proven," State Senator Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) said, according to the San Jose Mercury News. "We finally see justice being given to PG&E." https://www.rt.com/usa/355329-utility-guilty-pipeline-explosion/

None of the world’s top industries would be profitable if they paid for the natural capital they use

The notion of “externalities” has become familiar in environmental circles. It refers to costs imposed by businesses that are not paid for by those businesses. For instance, industrial processes can put pollutants in the air that increase public health costs, but the public, not the polluting businesses, picks up the tab. In this way, businesses privatize profits and publicize costs.

While the notion is incredibly useful, especially in folding ecological concerns into economics, I’ve always had my reservations about it. Environmentalists these days love speaking in the language of economics — it makes them sound Serious — but I worry that wrapping this notion in a bloodless technical term tends to have a narcotizing effect. It brings to mind incrementalism: boost a few taxes here, tighten a regulation there, and the industrial juggernaut can keep right on chugging. However, if we take the idea seriously, not just as an accounting phenomenon but as a deep description of current human practices, its implications are positively revolutionary. http://grist.org/business-technology/none-of-the-worlds-top-industries-would-be-profitable-if-they-paid- for-the-natural-capital-they-use/

Natural Capital at Risk: The Top 100 Externalities of Business http://www.trucost.com/published-research/99/natural-capital-at-risk-the-top-100-externalities-of- business

12 Regulations

13 Environment and Enjoyment of Property

Polar ice reveals secrets of carbon-climate feedbacks

An international team of scientists has used air bubbles in polar ice from pre-industrial times to measure the sensitivity of the Earth's land biosphere to changes in temperature.

In a paper published this week in Nature Geoscience the researchers have verified and quantified the relationship for the first time and shown how it impacts the cycles of carbon between land, ocean and the atmosphere. Up until now, this relationship has been assumed.

About half of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by human activities since 1850 has been taken out of the atmosphere by the land biosphere and the ocean. How these sinks will behave in the future has been a significant source of uncertainty in climate projections.

The paper reveals that the Earth's land biosphere takes up less carbon in a warmer climate. http://phys.org/news/2016-07-polar-ice-reveals-secrets-carbon-climate.html#jCp

Carbon cycling was much smaller during last ice age than in today's climate: study

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most important greenhouse gases and the increase of its abundance in the atmosphere by fossil fuel burning is the main cause of future global warming. In past times, during the transition between an ice age and a warm period, atmospheric CO2 concentrations changed by some 100 parts per million (ppm) – from an ice age value of 180 ppm to about 280 ppm during warm periods.

Scientists can reconstruct these changes in the atmospheric carbon stock using direct measurements of atmospheric CO2 trapped in air bubbles in the depth of Antarctica's ice sheets. However explaining the cause of these 100ppm changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations between glacial and interglacial climate states – as well as estimating the carbon stored on land and in the ocean – is far more difficult. http://phys.org/news/2011-11-carbon-smaller-ice-age-today.html

The politics of health protection and glyphosates in the forest

If someone told you that being exposed to lead in the food you eat, the water you drink or the air you breathe would not increase your risk of cancer but failed to tell you that these exposures could result in developmental, cognitive and behavioural effects in children and neurological, blood, and kidney effects in adults, would you feel safe?

That is the message the acting Chief Medical Officer of Health is giving New Brunswickers in her recently released report on glyphosate.

While the Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health (OCMOH) waits and follows the worldwide debate on whether glyphosate is cancer-causing or not, her report completely ignores the discussion taking place in the scientific community on the other known health effects of glyphosate.

14 There is extensive research and a growing body of scientific publications that have reported damage to DNA, malformations of embryos and fetus, damage to cells, endocrine-disrupting and/or effects on enzymes associated with glyphosate and its additives in a wide range of species including humans.

A consensus statement published this year in the journal Environmental Health by a dozen leading scientists and epidemiologists concluded that “regulatory estimates of tolerable daily intakes for glyphosate in the United States and European Union are based on outdated science.” They offer an extensive critique and a series of recommendations related to the need for new investments in epidemiological studies, biomonitoring, and toxicology studies to examine the impacts of glyphosate on the human endocrine system – a system that controls virtually every function in the body including growth and development, sexual development, reproduction, sleep, and behaviour. http://nbmediacoop.org/2016/08/02/the-politics-of-health-protection-and-glyphosates-in-the-forest/

Here Are 7 Terrifying Charts That Show Exactly What We’re Doing to the Planet

The world is careening towards an environment never experienced before by humans, with the temperature of the air and oceans breaking records, sea levels reaching historic highs and carbon dioxide surpassing a key milestone, a major international report has found.

The "state of the climate" report, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with input from hundreds of scientists from 62 countries, confirmed there was a "toppling of several symbolic mileposts" in heat, sea level rise and extreme weather in 2015. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/08/noaa-state-climate

The report

2015 State of the Climate: Highlights https://www.climate.gov/news-features/features/2015-state-climate-highlights#wows1_3

NOAA: 'Earth's Fever Rises' as Climate Records Shattered Worldwide

Last year saw records in the Earth's climate system continue to tumble, says the latest State of the Climate report from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The 300-page report, released Tuesday and now in its 26th year, is an annual assessment of the world's climate, scrutinizing the Earth's land, oceans, ice and atmosphere. It is compiled by more than 450 scientists from 62 countries.

Carbon Brief takes a look at how rising greenhouse gas emissions, with the help of a strong El Niño event, made 2015 into a record-breaker.

Last year was record-breaking for concentrations of all three of the main long-lived greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).

At the Mauna Loa Observatory, where scientists have been monitoring CO2 since the 1950s, the average concentration for the year as a whole surpassed 400 parts per million (ppm) for the first time.

15 At 400.8 ppm, CO2 levels in the atmosphere were 3.1 ppm greater than 2014—the largest annual increase of the 58-year record. http://www.ecowatch.com/noaa-climate-records-shattered-worldwide-1957283930.html

NOAA - State of the Climate https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/

Thom Hartmann , How TPP Threatens Our Climate - Screwed News

Ben Beachy, Sierra Club Responsible Trade Program, all join Thom. Like most so-called free trade deals - the TPP is mostly talked about in terms of jobs and wages. But it arguably poses an even bigger threat to our planet. The reason why later on in the show. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykDe5gmw06w

Thom Hartmann The Green Report, Michael Mann - Can Humanity Survive Climate Change?

Dr. Michael Mann, Earth Science Center-Penn State University/Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change (2nd edition) joins Thom. As record heatwaves sweep the nation and the world - are we catching a glimpse of the future under runaway climate change? And if so - can human civilization survive it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkQU81BFxxk

NOAA scientists report mass die-off of invertebrates at East Flower Garden Bank in Gulf of Mexico

Sanctuary recommends public avoid diving, fishing, boating activities in affected area

Scientists are currently unsure of the exact cause of the die-off in the East Flower Garden Bank, marked with a red star. This visualization shows salinity levels in the Gulf of Mexico. White areas indicate low salinity levels, which usually stay near the coastline. Notice the intrusion of freshwater south of the Texas/Louisiana border; this increase in freshwater is a possible contributing factor to the die-off. Image Credit: United States Naval Research Laboratory – Stennis Space Center http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/jul16/noaa-scientists-report-mass-die-off-of-invertebrates-at-east- flower-garden-bank.html

Are We Looking At A Mass Extinction Event?

Some scientists now fear that as ice-melt accelerates in the Arctic, we could see that 1,500 billion tons of land-based carbon and 10,000 billion tons of sea-based methane released into the atmosphere from the permafrost and from beneath the Arctic Sea where it's been trapped for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years.

16 If that happens, some scientists estimate that we would see a mass extinction event on the level of the Permian extinction, when up to 96% of the all marine species and 70% of all land-based species on the planet were wiped out, and it's unlikely that humans would be one of the surviving species.

That path to extinction though, started with our addiction to fossil fuel. http://www.thomhartmann.com/blog/2016/08/are-we-looking-mass-extinction-event

Thom Hartmann, The Big Picture - Are We Looking At A Mass Extinction Event?

A very real threat to life on this planet is currently trapped deep under Arctic permafrost. And thanks to climate change - that permafrost is rapidly disappearing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgEImS3wh5g

Hydrogen: Life’s Primary Driver

The primary drive for the Earth’s biosphere comes from the fusion of hydrogen atoms in the Sun’s interior.

The energy radiated to earth fluctuates in direct proportion to the number of storms that perturb the Sun’s surface. The more solar storms there are, the warmer our planet becomes. http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/csg/methane.pdf

Information Morning - Fredericton, Kathy Mills - Climate Change

Terry Seguin spoke to an associate research scientist at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute about climate change and the impact on the Gulf of Maine. http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2693088342

Decline of fishing in Lake Tanganyika 'due to warming'

New research blames rising temperatures over the last century as the key cause of decline in one of the world's most important fisheries. Lake Tanganyika is Africa's oldest lake and its fish are a critical part of the diet of neighbouring countries.

But catches have declined markedly in recent decades as commercial fleets have expanded. However this new study says that climate warming and not overfishing is the real cause of the problem. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-37009305

The study Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2016/08/02/1603237113

17 Inaction on Climate Change Could Cost Millennials $8.8 Trillion in Lifetime Income

A new study has found that without action on climate change, the millennial generation as a whole will lose nearly $8.8 trillion in lifetime income dealing with the economic, health and environmental impacts of climate change. The study, "The Price Tag of Being Young: Climate Change and Millennials’ Economic Future," was produced by NextGen Climate and Demos. We speak to Heather McGhee, president of Demos and Demos Action. http://www.democracynow.org/2016/8/24/inaction_on_climate_change_could_cost

The Price Tag Of Being Young, Climate Change And Millennials’ Economic Future https://nextgenclimate.global.ssl.fastly.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/NGC-Report-The-Price-Tag-of- Being-Young-2016-0820-single-pages-1-1.pdf

'A lit fuse': Ancient carbon slowly seeping from permafrost could ignite climate-change bomb

Slowly melting permafrost is seeping ancient carbon into the atmosphere in what researchers describe as a slowly ticking climate change time bomb.

The paper, published in Nature Geoscience on Monday, confirms that the thawing permafrost is releasing gases which have been trapped in ice for thousands of years as climate-warming greenhouse gases.

By subjecting gas captured from lakes in Alaska, Siberia and Canada to radiocarbon dating, researchers from the University of Alaska Fairbanks found the gas had been generated from carbon stored up to 30,000 years ago. https://www.rt.com/viral/357224-permafrost-carbon-climate-change/

Methane emissions proportional to permafrost carbon thawed in Arctic lakes since the 1950s

Permafrost thaw exposes previously frozen soil organic matter to microbial decomposition.

This process generates methane and carbon dioxide, and thereby fuels a positive feedback process that leads to further warming and thaw1.

Despite widespread permafrost degradation during the past ~40 years2, 3, 4, the degree to which permafrost thaw may be contributing to a feedback between warming and thaw in recent decades is not well understood.

Radiocarbon evidence of modern emissions of ancient permafrost carbon is also sparse5. Here we combine radiocarbon dating of lake bubble trace-gas methane (113 measurements) and soil organic carbon (289 measurements) for lakes in Alaska, Canada, Sweden and Siberia with numerical modelling of thaw and remote sensing of thermokarst shore expansion. http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2795.html

18 Shocking New Maps Show Mankind’s Changing Global Footprint

Human beings have altered the planet so dramatically and extensively, the scars of our ways can easily be seen from space.

Today, three-quarters of earth’s land surface faces “measurable human pressures,” while just 3 percent of the world’s biodiversity hotspots remain unaltered, according to a new global analysis.

“There’s little wonder why there’s a biodiversity crisis,” James Watson, a study co-author and director of science and research initiatives at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told The Huffington Post.

From deforestation and hunting to urban development and pollution, the future often seems depressingly bleak.The study describes human pressures as “perversely intense, widespread and rapidly intensifying in places with high biodiversity.” While it provides another dose of reality, it also provides a glimmer of hope. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/changing-human-footprint-study- maps_us_57bcc290e4b03d51368b83aa

Noam Chomsky: Indigenous People Are In The Lead

Chomsky also spoke out forcefully against Canadian tar sands, shale gas, and mining developments, and underlined the importance of indigenous resistance to the devastation they are causing.

According to Chomsky, “Canadian mining operations are just destroying large parts of the world.” He said that “Canada is trying to take the lead in destroying the possibility of decent survival: that’s what it means to exploit the tar sands, and the gold mining in Colombia, and coal mining, and so on…. That means destroying the world in which your grandchildren might be able to survive: that’s the Canadian idea now.”

Chomsky added that “There is resistance: in Canada it’s coming from First Nations. But it’s worth remembering that that’s a world-wide phenomenon. Throughout the world, the indigenous populations are in the lead. They are actually taking the lead in trying to protect the earth. That’s extremely significant.”

Chomsky argued that this resistance is supported by one of the most ancient documents of English law, the nearly 800-year old Magna Carta. For in addition to asserting civil rights like the presumption of innocence and the right to jury trial, the Magna Carta included a “Charter of the Forests,” which “had to do with protecting the commons”—all of the commonly shared things in nature that sustain human life —“from the depredations of power.” https://www.popularresistance.org/noam-chomsky-indigenous-people-are-in-the-lead/

Nation’s Largest Wind Project Gets Approval

The Iowa Utilities Board approved the nation's largest wind energy project, which will power 800,000 homes once completed.

The 2,000-megawatt Wind XI project should be completed by the end of 2019.

19 "Wind energy helps us keep prices stable and more affordable for customers, provides jobs and economic benefits for communities and the state, and contributes to a cleaner environment for everyone," said Bill Fehrman, the CEO of the utility behind the project. http://www.ecowatch.com/largest-wind-farm-1990963430.html

Redacted Tonight - Flooding and Climate Change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdvKKmgZilg&t=21m33s

Extreme weather like the Louisiana floods should serve as a warning

THE FUTURE is being rigged against vulnerable people by a system in which government and industry are complicit. No, we are not talking about the electoral system — we are talking about the climate.

The warming of the globe, spurred by humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels, is weighting the dice, as scientists often put it, in favor of increasingly frequent and severe extreme weather phenomena. Extremely high temperatures are the easiest to predict as warming proceeds. Also relatively foreseeable is heavier rain, because warmer air carries more moisture. In other words, do not be surprised if the country sees more costly disasters such as the flooding that hit Baton Rouge over the past week. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/extreme-weather-like-the-louisiana-floods-should-serve-as- a-warning/2016/08/22/6e351564-68ab-11e6-99bf-f0cf3a6449a6_story.html?utm_term=.8893f608cdc8

20 It's Official: The Anthropocene Epoch Is Here

The Anthropocene Epoch has begun, according to a group of experts assembled at the International Geological Congress in Cape Town, South Africa this week.

After seven years of deliberation, members of an international working group voted unanimously on Monday to acknowledge that the Anthropocene—a geologic time interval so-dubbed by chemists Paul Crutzen and Eugene Stoermer in 2000—is real. http://www.ecowatch.com/anthropocene-1991220147.html

Early onset of industrial-era warming across the oceans and continents

The evolution of industrial-era warming across the continents and oceans provides a context for future climate change and is important for determining climate sensitivity and the processes that control regional warming.

Here we use post-ad 1500 palaeoclimate records to show that sustained industrial-era warming of the tropical oceans first developed during the mid-nineteenth century and was nearly synchronous with Northern Hemisphere continental warming.

The early onset of sustained, significant warming in palaeoclimate records and model simulations suggests that greenhouse forcing of industrial-era warming commenced as early as the mid-nineteenth century and included an enhanced equatorial ocean response mechanism.

The development of Southern Hemisphere warming is delayed in reconstructions, but this apparent delay is not reproduced in climate simulations.

Our findings imply that instrumental records are too short to comprehensively assess anthropogenic climate change and that, in some regions, about 180 years of industrial-era warming has already caused surface temperatures to emerge above pre-industrial values, even when taking natural variability into account. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v536/n7617/full/nature19082.html

3 Tropical Storms Threaten U.S. for First Time in Recorded History

For the first time in recorded history, three tropical storm systems are threatening the U.S. simultaneously and a fourth could quickly join the ranks.

Two back-to-back storms—currently Hurricanes Madeline and Lester—could hit Hawaii's Big Island this week, while two others are forecast to impact North Carolina and Florida's Gulf Coast. If either storm makes landfall on the Big Island as a hurricane, it would be the first since record-keeping began. http://www.ecowatch.com/tropical-storms-1993102064.html

21 The Most Disturbing Climate Change-Events We've Seen Yet

Thom Hartmann The green Report https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNe5W_eHMtM

Crystal Serenity’s journey through Northwest Passage draws excitement, climate change fears

The Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth. And it’s this warming that is allowing cruise ships to tour the region.

In the past, any ships that travelled throughout the region needed to be assisted by ice breakers. However, now, with record sea ice loss in the Arctic, there isn’t the need. http://globalnews.ca/news/2908883/crystal-serenitys-journey-through-northwest-passage-draws- excitement-climate-change-fears/

22 Government, Meetings, News, and Letters

Information Morning - Fredericton The Glyphosate Report

The long awaited report on glyphosate was released last week and acting Chief Medical Officer of Health Jennifer Russell speaks with Terry about the findings. http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2692828624

Enbridge and N.B. government hope to settle out of court

Delay requested in $820 million legal battle over province tearing up its contract with Enbridge

Enbridge Gas and the New Brunswick government are negotiating a settlement to end their $820 million legal battle.

The two sides asked a judge in June to hold off on issuing a decision in the dispute until Dec. 31, so they would have time to work out a deal.

Enbridge is suing the province for passing a law to break its contract with the natural gas company.

Court documents show McInnes Cooper, a law firm representing Enbridge, sent a fax to Justice Paulette Garnett asking her not to file her decision while negotiations are ongoing. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/enbridge-province-delay-judicial-decision-1.3717394

Group Asks Compromised Board Members to Step Down from NEB Panel Reviewing Energy East

National Energy Board (NEB) panel members must recuse themselves to ensure Energy East pipeline review is impartial, group says.

“The NEB is charged with conducting a fair and unbiased assessment process for TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline,” Charles Hatt, Ecojustice lawyer. “Canadians cannot trust in that mission when panel members hold closed-door meetings about Energy East with interested stakeholders, including with Jean Charest, a TransCanada consultant. The perception of bias here is real, and it is troubling.”

In January 2015, two members of the Energy East review panel met privately and discussed Energy East with interested stakeholders, including Jean Charest who was then a consultant for TransCanada. When questioned about the meetings in July 2016, a Board spokesman claimed that Energy East was not discussed. But this claim was false. An access to information request filed by the National Observer uncovered emails and notes showing that one of the Energy East panel members actually set up the meeting and invited discussion of Energy East. In fact, the meetings featured discussion of communication strategies to promote pipelines in Québec, the panel’s pending completeness decision, and even the potential to “carve out” a chapter of the panel’s eventual report for an unclear purpose. http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/08/22/group-asks-compromised-board-members-step- down-neb-panel-reviewing-energy-east

23 UN declaration will allow pipeline veto: N.B. Aboriginal leaders

UN Declaration for Indigenous Rights could be powerful tool to oppose Energy East, First Nations leaders say

Canada's adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples will help First Nations fight against the Energy East pipeline, according to some New Brunswick Aboriginal leaders.

Ron Tremblay, Grand Chief of the Wolastoq Grand Council, is at the United Nations this week in New York. He believes the declaration will give Aboriginal communities veto power over contentious resource projects including the pipeline, which would transport crude oil from Alberta to New Brunswick.

"I'm very confident that by the Liberal federal government supporting the declaration ... that we will have the opportunity to say no," said Tremblay.

The Grand Council, which says the homeland of the Wolastoqewiyik takes in all of New Brunswick as well as parts of Maine and Quebec, came out in opposition of the pipeline earlier this year. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/un-declaration-energy-east-pipeline-veto-1.3576710

Inaction on Climate Change Could Cost Millennials $8.8 Trillion in Lifetime Income

Eastern premiers, New England governors meeting focuses on energy

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and Prince Edward Island Premier Wade MacLauchlan are co- chairing the conference.

MacLauchlan says he expects a fair bit of discussion on renewable energy and what Eastern Canada can offer.

"New England is looking to obtain significant additional amounts of renewable energy over the next several years. They've got requirements to reduce some of their carbon based energy," he said. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/eastern-premiers-governors-meeting-1.3739351

24 New Brunswick News

Interactive map of New Brunswick's shale gas industry

There have been 322 oil and natural gas wells drilled in New Brunswick. The first was drilled near Dover in 1859 and since 1990, there have been 40 oil and 40 natural gas wells drilled in the province.

Links to 18 other articles http://www.cbc.ca/nb/features/fracturedfuture/rights_map.html

Indian Affairs : A Collection of Manuscripts : 1761 - 1864.

Call Number: MIC-Loyalist FC LPR .N4I5M3 Category: New Brunswick Creator: New Brunswick. Indian Affairs. Description: 1 microfilm textual records () ; 35 mm

The Archives and Special Collections Department of the Harriet Irving Library, University of New Brunswick, holds a small but unique and very important collection of manuscripts concerning Indian Affairs in New Brunswick during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The material was collected for Lord Beaverbrook by R.A. Tweedie in 1956.

The collection contains 90 manuscripts arranged in chronological order with undated material at the end. Documents include: a 1761 Treaty of Peace and Friendship; proclamations; certificates; letters; surveys; reports; petitions; appointments; lists of Indian names in various locations; and many other items. Correspondents include: Hon. Jonathan Belcher, Governor Thomas Carleton, Sir Archibald Campbell, Jonathan Odell, John Bedell, James Horton, Major-General Smyth, Ward Chipman, Thomas Wetmore, James Gilmour, Hon. William F. Odell, Alexander Rankin, George Sproule, Thomas Baillie, Capt. Dugald Campbell, and others. Indian chiefs/names include: Nicklaw Julian, Peter Pierre Jacques, Nicholas Julian, Louis Denny, Andrew Julian, Francis Nicholas, Barnaby Julian, Francis Joseph, Samuel Paul, John Baptist Pommeville, Francis Julian, Toma Francis, and others.

The original records are held by the University of New Brunswick Archives. https://loyalist.lib.unb.ca/node/4527

25 Maritime News

Once-bountiful fishery collapses as oil leak persists in Newfoundland bay

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The oil has been seeping for about three years — sometimes in drops, sometimes leaving large slicks — fouling a scenic area in western Newfoundland once known for its scallop fishing.

Concerned residents near Shoal Point in Port au Port Bay have tried everything from news releases to photos and video of the bubbling leak from an abandoned exploration well, trying to spur a permanent fix.

"If there was a leak in St. John's harbour, the coast guard would probably jump on it within hours," said Bob Diamond of the Port au Port Bay Fishery Committee.

"We don't really know the impact it's having. But we know that oil and water and fish and tourism don't mix."

What is certain is that the scallop fishery, a once crucial economic driver in the area, has collapsed over the last three years, he said in an interview. http://www.metronews.ca/news/canada/2016/07/21/once-bountiful-fishery-collapses-as-oil-leak- persists-in-newfoundland-bay.html

26 Canadian News

27 Other News

Massive Explosion Rocks Washington State Natural Gas Plant

A liquefied natural gas pipeline plant suffered an explosion and fire at 8:20 a.m. PDT in Plymouth, Washington Monday morning. The AP reports that five people were injured. Williams Northwest Pipeline spokesperson Michele Swaner said one employee was injured from burns, but that he would recover.

The cause is still uncertain, but fire officials said that it began with an explosion in a building, and then a natural gas pipeline ruptured, which sent shrapnel into a “huge” storage tank, leading to a risk of a much larger explosion. People living three to six miles away from the plant said they could feel the first explosion, according to the local NBC and CBS affiliates. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/31/3421102/massive-explosion-natural-gas-plant/

Large explosion rocks Washington natural gas plant; 5 workers hurt, 400 residents evacuated https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpdipBRJ3V0

Cost estimate of Aliso Canyon gas leak hits $717 million

Southern California Gas Co.'s costs related to the massive leak of natural gas from its Aliso Canyon underground storage facility near Los Angeles have risen to $717 million, parent Sempra Energy said Thursday in its second-quarter earnings report. http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/08/04/63268/cost-estimate-of-aliso-canyon-gas-leak-hits-717-mi/

Nation’s Largest Wind Project Gets Approval

The Iowa Utilities Board approved the nation's largest wind energy project, which will power 800,000 homes once completed.

The 2,000-megawatt Wind XI project should be completed by the end of 2019. "Wind energy helps us keep prices stable and more affordable for customers, provides jobs and economic benefits for communities and the state, and contributes to a cleaner environment for everyone," said Bill Fehrman, the CEO of the utility behind the project. http://www.ecowatch.com/largest-wind-farm-1990963430.html

28 Water

Water demand up as heat dries out private wells in Nova Scotia

Priority Water Ltd. says fills of private wells are 'double' that of last summer Business is flowing for some water delivery services in Nova Scotia, who are trying to keep up with calls from homeowners during the past few weeks of unrelenting heat.

Ron McCulloch, who owns Priority Water, has six large trucks that deliver throughout Middle Sackville and beyond. The majority of his regular customers are industrial, but this year has been different.

"I'd say the wells are double the calls over last year this time," McCulloch said. "And another thing that we do is water sods. New [lawn] sods require a lot of water. That's been a big thing the past few weeks." http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/water-wells-running-dry-ns-deliveries-july31-1.3702704

Water levels reach record lows in Ontario cottage country

Despite a rainy summer, there is still much hand-wringing around Georgian Bay as locals and cottagers alike are again worrying about the future after water levels in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, which have remained below average for the past 14 years, hit a record low in January.

One cause for the change was what was done to the St. Clair River, which flows out of Lake Huron and has been dredged several times over the past century to open it for larger commercial vessels, increasing the flow of water out of Huron and Michigan. This lowered the overall water level in Michigan and Huron by an estimated seven to 14 centimetres, according to the commission.

Another factor was the glacial isostatic adjustment. With the disappearance of the weight of the glaciers that carved out the Great Lakes thousands of years ago, the Earth’s crust has slowly rebounded and tilted the area, resulting in another drop of four or five centimetres.

But the primary cause has been changing climate patterns, the study said. Shorter winters and warmer summers meant more water evaporating from the lakes than was going back in through precipitation, taking nine to 17 centimetres out of the water levels. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/weeds-and-rocks-litter-dry-ground-as-georgian-bays- water-levels-sink/article13468821/

The crisis

The water and sanitation crisis is the second biggest killer of children under five years old worldwide.

650M people in the world don't have access to safe water. This is roughly one in ten of the world's population. 2.3 billion people don't have access to an adequate bathroom, one in three of the world's population. More than 315,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. That's over 860 children a day. https://www.wateraidcanada.com/what-we-do/the-crisis/?gclid=CKup- bq2os4CFZSEaQodKTYFnQ#/statistics

29 What Happens to the U.S. Midwest When the Water's Gone?

The Ogallala aquifer turned the region into America's breadbasket. Now it, and a way of life, are being drained away.

Left: Bedsprings once served as a corral near Elida, New Mexico, where turbines tap into the High Plains’ unrelenting wind, generating new income for farmers who have lost earnings as their wells dry up.Right: Two-year-old Annalea Garcia is bathed nightly by her mother, Crystal, in a bucket filled with water hauled from town. Their well and the wells of some 30 other families on the outskirts of Clovis, New Mexico, have run dry.

"Whoa," yells Brownie Wilson, as the steel measuring tape I am feeding down the throat of an irrigation well on the Kansas prairie gets away from me and unspools rapidly into the depths below.

The well, wide enough to fall into, taps into the Ogallala aquifer, the immense underground freshwater basin that makes modern life possible in the dry states of Middle America. We have come to assess the aquifer’s health. The weighted tip hits the water at 195 feet, a foot lower than a year ago. Dropping at this pace, it is nearing the end of its life. “Already this well does not have enough water left to irrigate for an entire summer,” Wilson says. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/08/vanishing-midwest-ogallala-aquifer-drought/

Canadian, U.S. mayors seek to challenge diversion of water from Great Lakes

Argue that allowing the Wisconsin city of Waukesha to take water from Lake Michigan sets dangerous precedent

A group of mayors from Canada and the U.S. are trying to challenge a recent decision allowing an American city to draw water from the Great Lakes, arguing that it sets a dangerous precedent.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative asked Monday for a hearing with the group of eight states that make up what’s known as the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Council.

In June, the council gave the Wisconsin city of Waukesha the green light to divert water from Lake Michigan, making it the first exception to an agreement banning diversions of water away from the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River basin. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/08/22/canadian-us-mayors-seek-to-challenge-diversion-of- water-from-great-lakes.html

30 Fracking and Earthquakes

BC Hydro officials worry about risks of earthquakes triggered by fracking

BC Hydro officials have worried that earthquakes triggered by fracking could damage or destroy some of the utility’s dams in the province’s north, an issue that has been a point of discussion among staff over recent years, documents show.

The concern about hydraulic fracturing – in which fluids are injected deep underground to shatter rock and release trapped oil and gas – is outlined in the documents, obtained through freedom of information legislation by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and provided to The Globe and Mail. According to the documents, Hydro officials have worried for several years that fracking too close to the Peace Canyon Dam in northern British Columbia might cause the dam to fail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-hydro-officials-worry-about-risks-of- earthquakes-triggered-by-fracking/article31425804/

EPA: North Texas Earthquakes Likely Linked to Oil and Gas Drilling

Federal regulators believe “there is a significant possibility” that recent earthquakes in North Texas are linked to oil and gas activity, even if state regulators won’t say so.

That’s according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s annual evaluation of how the Texas Railroad Commission oversees thousands of injection and disposal wells that dot state oilfields — underground resting places for millions of gallons of toxic waste from fracking and other drilling activities.

“In light of findings from several researchers, its own analysis of some cases and the fact that earthquakes diminished in some areas following shut-in or reduced injection volume of targeted wells,” the Aug. 15 report states, “EPA believes there is a significant possibility that North Texas earthquake activity is associated with disposal wells.” https://www.texastribune.org/2016/08/22/epa-north-takes-quakes-likely-linked-oil-and-gas-a/? utm_campaign=trib-social&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=1471889958

31 Oil and Pipelines

Idle No More speaks out against oil spill

Idle No More is speaking out against the oil spill in the North Saskatchewan River.

“Guided by (the) original vision statements of Idle No More, we as grassroots reassert our determination that we will continue to protect Mother Earth and all her sacred elements,” the group said in a written release on Sunday.

The statement asks Husky Oil to provide necessary measures to clean and remediate the damage caused by the spill.

The group also calls for Husky to shut down all pipelines, and says that the company will not be welcome after cleanup is complete. http://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/idle-no-more-speaks-out-against-oil-spill-1.3010074

Saudi Arabia throws down the gauntlet to Iran in battle for Asian oil market

Riyadh has cut oil prices to Asia by $1.60 per barrel, the most in 10 months, signaling mounting competition with fellow OPEC member Iran. Saudi Arabia is ramping up exports to regain market share.

State-run Saudi Aramco plans to sell Arab Light crude at $1.10 per barrel below the Asian regional benchmark, starting September. Experts had expected a $1 per barrel drop.

Prices for Light and Extra Light crude for US clients was cut by 20 cents and 40 cents respectively with the Medium and Heavy grades left unchanged. The company raised prices on all grades except Extra Light to northwest Europe and the Mediterranean.

Tehran has boosted crude output 25 percent in 2016 aiming to reach daily production of four million barrels by the end of the year. According to shipping data, the Asian market makes up the largest share of Iranian sales. https://www.rt.com/business/354131-saudi-price-asia-iran/

Saskatchewan oil spill could increase public scepticism

The CEO of TransCanada, Russ Girling, has stated that the oil spill in Saskatchewan could increase public scepticism of pipeline projects.

“All of these incidents shake public confidence,” he commented. “There’s no question that things like that cause people concern, and rightfully so.” He also added that TransCanada, the company behind the proposed Energy East pipeline, will learn from the Husky incident and will strive to improve pipeline safety.

Last week, a Husky Energy pipeline spilled between 200 000 and 250 000 litres of oil into the North Saskatchewan River. The spill left cities along the waterway having to find non-tainted sources of

32 drinking water. The Husky spill comes as public hearings are set to begin on Energy East on 8 August in Saint John, New Brunswick.

Girling continued to say that TransCanada has implemented numerous safety improvements, particularly around waterways, in recent years. Advancements have included thicker pipelines at crossings, drilling pipes under rivers at times and adding extra valves at crossings so that pipelines can be shut off faster. http://www.energyglobal.com/pipelines/project-news/01082016/Saskatchewan-oil-spill-could-increase- public-scepticism/

This Canadian Oil Ghost Town Is For Sale

In a shocking example of the fallout from low oil prices coupled with years of easy-money-enabled malinvestment, the collapse of Canada's non-conventional oil production has forced a northern Alberta oil-boom-town to be put up for auction, including 1200 person accomodation work-camp, hospital, gym, running track, and waste-water treatment plant. http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-07-30/canadian-oil-ghost-town-sale-highest-bidder

Connacher Oil gets court OK to put oil sands leases, plants up for sale

Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd. and its court-appointed monitor are seeking offers for its oil sands leases and extraction plants.

The Calgary-based company says prospective buyers have until June 30 to submit initial non-binding letters of intent.

Connacher’s assets include two extraction facilities that produced about 14,500 barrels per day in 2015. Currently, their output has been reduced to 8,000 barrels per day due to low commodity prices.

The company also has 87,000 net acres (35,200 hectares) of oil sands leases southwest of Fort McMurray, Alta. At 2015 production rates, they represent 40 years of reserves. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/connacher- oil-gets-court-ok-to-put-oil-sands-leases-plants-up-for-sale/article30104691/

Penn West avoids bankruptcy on sale of Saskatchewan oil assets

Penn West Petroleum Ltd. says it is turning the page on its financial woes with a deal to sell one of its main oil-producing assets, removing the spectre of bankruptcy that has dogged the company and weighed heavily on its shares.

Penn West announced late Friday a deal to sell its Viking Dodsland property in Saskatchewan to privately held Teine Energy Ltd. for $975-million. It will jettison production of nearly 14,000 barrels a day (b/d).

33 Chief executive officer David Roberts, in an internal memo, heralded the deal as the end of a three-year process to “fix a very broken organization.”

Only last month, it warned of a potential bankruptcy as it sought breaks on debt terms. It now expects its net debt levels to fall to about $600-million from $2.1-billion at the end of 2015. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/energy-and-resources/penn-west- shares-surge-on-sale-of-saskatchewan-oil-assets/article30415521/

Hydro-Québec chose sidelines at pipeline hearings. Then its lawyer joined TransCanada

Critics are accusing Quebec’s powerhouse Crown utility of bending over backwards to the oil industry. Why, they ask, will Hydro-Québec sit on the sidelines during upcoming federal hearings to review of a huge pipeline project when the utility itself warned that TransCanada's proposed Energy East pipeline could threaten Quebec's electricity supply?

The controversy has been inflamed by revelations that one of Hydro-Québec's lawyers jumped to TransCanada and news that Ontario's Hydro One requested to be a full participant in the hearings. Critics say that Hydro-Québec is abandoning its responsibility to both landowners and customers and they question whether the process has been rigged to get the pipeline approved.

The criticism comes following the release of formal correspondence from both Hydro One in Ontario and Hydro-Québec to the federal regulator. The letters from the utility companies, posted on the website of Canada's National Energy Board, warned that Calgary-based TransCanada Corp’s continent-sized pipeline project could disrupt electricity supplies for millions of people in central Canada. http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/08/02/news/hydro-qu%C3%A9bec-chose-sidelines-pipeline- hearings-then-its-lawyer-joined-transcanada

Saskatchewan government "unlikely" to clean all of Husky oil spill

The reality of the disastrous Husky oil spill in Saskatchewan is finally starting to sink in — quite literally.

The challenges prompted the province's Ministry of Environment on Tuesday to announce that it was "unlikely" clean up crews would ever be able to contain all of the oil from the pipeline leak.

"To be very frank, [the odds are] low," Ash Olesen, the ministry's manager of potash and central operations, told reporters at a media conference. "It's unlikely we'll recover all of it and I can't provide an estimate as to how much."

More than 1,200 water samples have been collected from the spill since it began nearly two weeks ago at a Husky Energy pipeline near Maidstone, Sask. The pipeline, built in 1997, leaked up to 250,000 litres — or 1,572 barrels — of oil and other toxins into the major waterway, forcing nearby municipalities to enact emergency water restrictions and shut down their water treatment plants. http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/08/02/news/saskatchewan-government-unlikely-clean-all-husky- oil-spill

34 Irving Oil to buy Ireland's only refinery from Phillips 66

Irving Oil says purchase of Ireland's only refinery will allow it to expand across Atlantic

Irving Oil's pledge to continue "full operation" of Ireland's only oil refinery and maintain its existing workforce is welcome news in the city of Cork, where American multinational energy company Phillips 66 has been looking to divest the asset for several years.

"It's obviously very welcome indeed that those jobs seem to be secure into the future and possibly [we'll see] further investment and expansion," said David Stanton, the local MP for Cork East.

The Whitegate refinery used to be owned by the state, but was privatized in 2001 and sold to Phillips 66. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/irving-oil-refinery-ireland-phillips-66-1.3705331

Slump in oil prices gives pause to rally on global stock markets

Oil prices tumbled on Monday on worries of a crude glut, putting pressure on energy shares and giving pause to global equity prices, which have rallied to their highest in nearly a year.

A near 15-percent slump in U.S. crude prices in July, the worst monthly loss in a year, triggered liquidation as trading began for August and U.S. crude fell below $40 per barrel for the first time since April.

"It's stop-loss technical selling combined with sheer liquidation by those fearing we'll soon be swimming in oil again," said Phil Davis, trader at PSW Investments in San Diego, California. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-markets-idUSKCN10C12L

35 Energy East Is Anything But Canadian Oil For Canadians

When TransCanada first announced its 4400km Energy East pipeline project from Alberta to Saint John, the spin was all about nation-building.

At their first news conference, CEO Russ Girling compared Energy East to "bold ventures" such as the Canadian Pacific Railway that evoke civic pride. "Each of these enterprises demanded innovative thinking and a strong belief that building critical infrastructure ties our country together, making us stronger and more in control of our own destiny," said Girling, as quoted in a Macleans article.

Many pundits and political figures, notably Premier Brad Wall, have bought this hook, line and sinker.

This spin is dependent on the idea that Energy East will see crude produced in the Prairies replace so- called foreign imports to Atlantic Canada.

"It's inaccurate no matter how often the company repeats it. Energy East is an export pipeline, not a made-in-Canada energy solution." http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/the-council-of-canadians/energy-east-pipeline_b_9158434.html

Martine Ouellet wants to block Energy East pipeline if elected

Quebec’s blocking of the controversial Energy East pipeline may one day be led by PQ leadership hopeful Martine Ouellet.

If elected leader of the Parti Québécois next October, and then premier of Quebec in 2018, the Vachon MP will hear every possible option to ensure that the pipeline does not pass through Quebec.

It was already known that Ouellet, a candidate for the succession of Pierre Karl Péladeau, had huge reservations about the project, which she considers too risky for the environment.

In a press release on Tuesday, she went a step further by saying that if she runs the government, it will block the oil transportation project in Alberta by pipeline, one of the most polluting fuels on the planet, in her estimation. http://montrealgazette.com/news/quebec/martine-ouellet-wants-to-block-energy-east-pipeline-if-elected

Fears of oil spill fuel Quebec opposition to Energy East pipeline – by Shawn McCarthy Globe and Mail

TransCanada Corp.’s Energy East project is encountering a major logjam at the Ottawa River, with Quebec officials refusing to issue permits to the company that would allow it to determine how to cross the waterway – citing Husky Energy Inc.’s spill in a Saskatchewan river last month as a troubling warning sign.

In filings with the National Energy Board, TransCanada said its usual method for river crossing was “not feasible” at its preferred Ottawa River crossing site, near the junction with the St. Lawrence River. It had promised to provide an alternative scenario this summer, but that work is delayed because county officials from Vaudreuil-Soulanges are denying the company the permits for geological testing of the riverbed.

36 TransCanada has not adequately communicated its plans, Raymond Malo, assistant director-general for Vaudreuil-Soulanges, said in an interview, and local government officials remain worried about the potential for a disastrous spill into the river, which would contaminate drinking water for millions of residents in the Montreal region.

“What happened in Saskatchewan is the proof [that spills] can happen,” Mr. Malo said. “We say, if it happens, how will you intervene, in winter with three feet of ice, in a snowstorm? It will take hours and hours to intervene. … We know our drinking water is at risk, and we know it could be a major crisis.” http://www.republicofmining.com/2016/08/04/fears-of-oil-spill-fuel-quebec-opposition-to-energy-east- pipeline-by-shawn-mccarthy-globe-and-mail-august-4-2016/

Husky oil spill in the North Saskatchewan River strengthens opposition to Energy East crossing the Ottawa River

The Husky Energy oil spill in the North Saskatchewan River is making it harder for TransCanada to cross the Ottawa River with its proposed 1.1 million barrel per day Energy East pipeline.

The Globe and Mail reports, "TransCanada Corp.’s Energy East project is encountering a major logjam at the Ottawa River, with Quebec officials refusing to issue permits to the company that would allow it to determine how to cross the waterway – citing Husky Energy Inc.’s spill in a Saskatchewan river last month as a troubling warning sign." http://canadians.org/blog/husky-oil-spill-north-saskatchewan-river-strengthens-opposition-energy-east- crossing-ottawa

Canada pipeline panel apologizes, releases records on meeting with Charest

The Trudeau government's review of a major cross-Canada pipeline project came under fire on Thursday as the country's national energy regulator released stunning records about private meetings that prompted an apology for making false and misleading statements.

37 Gauthier, a member of Canada's pipeline regulator, the National Energy Board (NEB), invited former premier Jean Charest to discuss TransCanada Corp's Energy East pipeline in December 2014. This came a few months after Gauthier and other NEB members were named on a three member panel to review the project.

Charest, who had retired from politics, was under contract at that time for TransCanada, a Calgary- based multinational energy company. And the NEB, which has the powers of a federal court, isn't allowed to privately discuss matters that are under review before the Board.

Gauthier, who was appointed to the NEB by former prime minister Stephen Harper, invited Charest to discuss a range of issues with Board members and staff at a January 2015 meeting. Gauthier specifically highlighted the Energy East project - a proposed 4,500 kilometre pipeline between Alberta and New Brunswick with a capacity of more than a million barrels of oil per day - as one of the items on the agenda.

The emails contradict the NEB's earlier statements about the meeting, raising fresh questions about whether it can be trusted to lead impartial reviews of major projects. They also throw a curveball at the Liberal government’s pledge to restore public trust in federal oversight of industry. http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/08/04/news/canada-pipeline-panel-apologizes-releases-records- meeting-charest

Montreal has "No plan B" if major oil spill were to happen, experts say

When up to 250,000 litres of oil spilled out of the Husky Energy pipeline and into the North Saskatchewan River two weeks ago, it forced the city of Prince Albert to declare a state of emergency.

The city had to shut down the intake at its water treatment plant and enforce water conservation measures. Local businesses, from concrete plants to carwashes and laundromats, were shut down.

Work started quickly to build a temporary, 30-kilometre waterline to draw water from the South Saskatchewan River, and another short waterline was built to pull from the much smaller Little Red River. Government agencies delivered water to 1,200 residents living in neighbouring rural areas.

In Montreal, experts say, there would be no such luck: if a similar spill were to occur, the city has no access to alternative water sources the likes of what Prince Albert is relying on, and a much shorter timeframe of banked water as well.

“It’s scary even thinking about it,” said Guy Coderre, who’s taught at Quebec’s Centre national de formation en traitement de l’eau for the last 20 years.

In May, the centre released a study detailing the effects of a pipeline break and warning that Montreal is ill-equipped to handle any sort of major spill that would compromise its water supply.

“There is no plan B,” Coderre said of how the city could react. http://montrealgazette.com/news/montreal-has-no-plan-b-if-major-oil-spill-were-to-happen-experts-say

38 Energy East says Husky oil spill ‘rare’ ahead of NEB public hearings

Officials involved in the Energy East pipeline are reassuring the public of the rarity of a leak ahead of the National Energy Board (NEB) public hearings on the proposed project next week.

The NEB will hear from both proponents and opponents starting Monday morning in Saint John.

Energy East admits that spill could impact how the public perceives pipelines in general, but says it was an isolated incident. http://globalnews.ca/news/2865575/energy-east-says-husky-oil-spill-rare-ahead-of-neb-public-hearings/

Saskatchewan Heavy Oil Spill Highlights Pipeline Risks

On July 20, an oil pipeline in Northern Saskatchewan ruptured, eventually leaking as much as 66,000 gallons of heavy crude oil and other chemicals into the North Saskatchewan River. Despite noticing a “pressure anomaly” in the line, pipeline operators failed to shut it down, and the leak continued for 14 hours before an oil sheen was reported on the river’s surface.

By then, it was far too late for spill responders to try and localize the impacts of the spill, and nearly two weeks later, oil from the spill has traveled at least 300 miles downstream. In the spill’s aftermath, public drinking water supplies for as many 70,000 people have been disrupted, forcing cities and towns to scramble for new water sources as reserves quickly dried up. https://www.nrdc.org/experts/josh-axelrod/saskatchewan-heavy-oil-spill-highlights-pipeline-risks

Pipeline statistics

• 2016 monthly statistics • 2015 monthly statistics • Annual statistics http://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/stats/pipeline/

Alberta pipelines: 5 major oil spills in recent history

Nexen pipeline leak in Alberta spills 5 million litres Little Buffalo 4.5 million litres Red Deer River half a million litres Elk Point 230,000 litres Slave Lake 70,000 litres Red Earth Creek 60,000 litres http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/alberta-pipelines-5-major-oil-spills-in-recent-history-1.3156604

39 How to take an oil rig apart

While clean, green offshore wind farms increasingly begin to populate the North Sea – there are now 3,000 of them there – the area’s once-mighty oil and gas platforms, which helped fuel Europe’s economy for the best part of 40 years, are facing an ignominious end in the breaker’s yards. But getting them there is going to be hellishly difficult.

At issue is the fact that North Sea hydrocarbon reserves are depleting, and many hundreds of oil and gas rigs are approaching the end of their productive lives. And the emptier their wells get, the more the rigs cost to keep running, says Richard Neilson, a physicist specialising in offshore technologies at the University of Aberdeen.

Under a 15-nation protocol called the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic, known simply as Ospar, which came into force in March 1998, offshore platforms cannot be disposed of at sea or simply be left to rust and fall to pieces, as they risk damaging fragile marine ecosystems. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20160804-what-it-takes-to-dismantle-an-oil-rig

Louisiana Parish Hit by Third Oil Spill in Ten Days As Pressure Grows To Hold Oil and Gas Industry Accountable for Coastal Damage

Yesterday, an estimated 4,200 gallons of crude oil was discharged from a well owned by the Texas Petroleum Investment Company into the mouth of the Mississippi River, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard and other state agencies are now responding to the third oil spill in two weeks.

Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish coast was also hit with two oil spills last week. An estimated 4,200 gallons of crude oil attributed to oil and gas extraction company Hilcorp spilled in the marsh near Lake Grande Ecaille, part of Barataria Bay, on July 25. Three days later, 850 gallons were discharged by a Texas Petroleum Management flowline into marshland in the Southwest Pass. http://www.desmogblog.com/2016/08/03/louisiana-parish-hit-third-oil-spill-ten-days-pressure-grows- hold-oil-and-gas-industry-accountable-coastal-damage

Fossil Fuels Must Stay in Ground to Stop Warming, Scientists Say

Two-thirds of the world’s fossil-fuel reserves must remain unburnt to hold temperature increases below dangerous levels, according to researchers at University College London.

Half the world’s known gas reserves, one-third of the oil and 80 percent of the coal should remain in the ground and unused before 2050 to limit temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the maximum climate scientists say is advisable, according to a report from the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources.

“Policy makers must realize that their instincts to completely use the fossil fuels within their countries are wholly incompatible with their commitments to the 2 degrees Celsius goal,” UCL research associate and lead author Christophe McGlade said in the report, which will be published today in the scientific journal Nature.

40 The research will heighten the debate about so-called stranded assets, the idea that the reserves of oil drillers and coal miners have little value because the fight against climate change will require them to be left in the ground. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-07/fossil-fuels-must-stay-in-ground-to-stop-warming- scientists-say

Energy East’s political pressure point? Fear of a spill

The campaigns to block the proposed Energy East pipeline to Saint John have been organized primarily by climate-change campaigners, but the real political pressure point is local. It centres on the fear that a spill could contaminate the drinking water in the Montreal area.

That’s why those wondering about the future routes for exporting Alberta oil should cast an eye to the politics around a river crossing somewhere near Pointe-Fortune, Que.

Though National Energy Board hearings on Energy East open Monday in Saint John and move into Quebec by the end of the month, we still don’t know exactly where that crossing, the likely political choke point for the proposed pipeline, will be. TransCanada Corp.’s dispute with a regional administration has stalled permits for testing, so the company hasn’t yet pinpointed the spot where it would lay the pipe across the Ottawa River.

The lesson here is a twist on the adage that all politics is local. Many Quebeckers are concerned about climate change, but voters react more intensely to the backyard issue – the fear of a spill. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/alberta/energy-easts-political-pressure-point-fear-of-a- spill/article31296674/

Risk of Energy East to Water and Atlantic Coast Too Great Groups Tell NEB on First Day of Hearings in Saint John

A bitumen spill would bring widespread, devastating economic and environmental impacts to region

Saint John, NB - As oil from the Husky Energy pipeline spill continues to wreak havoc on the water supply of over 70,000 people in Saskatchewan, groups representing indigenous people, fishers, environmentalists, social justice advocates, and local residents in Saint John gathered this morning at the opening of the National Energy Board (NEB) panel sessions for the Energy East pipeline and tanker project with one unified message — the risk to water and the Atlantic Coast are too great and Energy East must be rejected.

“Our values are connected spiritually to the land, water and air and we follow the original instructions from the Great Mystery to protect and preserve our homeland,” said Ron Tremblay, Grand Chief of the Wolastoqewi Kci-putuwosuwinuwok or Maliseet Grand Council. “For this reason, we oppose the Energy East Pipeline in order to protect our non-ceded homeland and waterways, our traditional and cultural connection to our lands, waterways, and air.” http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2016/08/08/risk-energy-east-water-and-atlantic-coast-too- great-groups-tell-neb-first-day

41 Canaport LNG raises concerns about ship traffic from Energy East

Company wants LNG ships given priority over oil export ships due to nature of cargo

Canaport LNG's Fraser Forsythe told a National Energy Board public hearing Tuesday that the company hasn't been adequately consulted about the proposed Energy East pipeline and export terminal given their close proximity.

Forsythe said "an uninterrupted berthing window" is needed for each ship because of the technical requirements of loading frozen LNG.

Forsythe said the LNG shipments would need to have priority with the approach channel to the area or the facility's jetty would have to be moved. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/neb-hearing-energyeast-canaport-1.3713429

Canadian military voices concerns over Energy East pipeline

Officials at military base in Petawawa, Ont., demand answers about potential oil spill

As hearings get underway on the proposed Energy East pipeline, documents obtained by the CBC's French-language service, Radio-Canada, show the Canadian military has expressed grave concerns about the possibility of an oil spill.

Memos released under Access to Information show officials at the Canadian Forces garrison in Petawawa, Ont., have been demanding answers from TransCanada Corp., the company behind the project, about a section of pipeline that passes through the base. The pipeline, which is already in place, is designed to transport liquid natural gas, but would be switched to carrying crude oil if Energy East goes ahead.

In the letter, the company assures the military its pipeline can be shut down "within minutes" in the event of a breach. In further correspondence, the company clarifies just how close its pipeline would come to other military installations, revealing it would pass within 600 metres of the Canadian Forces base in North Bay, Ont., and just 200 metres from the base in Suffield, Alta. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cfb-petawawa-energy-east-pipeline-1.3712472

Information Morning - Fredericton, Sarah Kiley - NEB Process

The National Energy Board explains how its hearings work and what it will do with the information it gathers this week. http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2693108395

Information Morning - Fredericton, Corbett/Ritchie - NEB Hearing

We hear from two organizations that have made submissions to the National Energy Board for its public hearings on the pipeline, Lois Corbett, CCNB, and Gary Ritchie, NBBTU. http://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2693108686

42 N.B. Mi'kmaq 'deeply concerned' about Energy East pipeline impact on treaty rights

Chief George Ginnish, of the Eel Ground First Nation, told National Energy Board hearings in Saint John, N.B., on Wednesday that Mi'kmaq communities remain "deeply concerned" about the effect the proposed pipeline will have on their aboriginal and treaty rights.

Ginnish was speaking on behalf of a group of nine communities in eastern and northern parts of the province.

"We have to consider the impact that any projects will have on our next seven generations, it's our duty to our ancestors," said Ginnish.

He told the three member panel the Mi'kmaq are concerned about the impacts of the pipeline's construction and the effects of potential oil spills on watersheds and watercrossings as well as on traditional fisheries and on species such as Atlantic salmon.

He said there are also concerns about increased tanker traffic in the Bay of Fundy. The tankers would be used to export crude oil from Western Canada that would be stored at a proposed marine terminal in Saint John.

"Unless all of these concerns can be meaningfully addressed, we cannot and will not consent to the pipeline in our territory," Ginnish said.

The chief said that through a series of peace and friendship treaties with the Crown the Mik'maq have never surrendered their aboriginal title to their lands.

"The Energy East pipeline will cross through our Mi'kmaq traditional lands . . . thus the project will require our consent," said Ginnish.

Bruce McIvor, a solicitor for the Elsipogtog First Nation near Rexton, N.B., said the energy board's mandate is limited in relation to the project because of the band's treaty rights. He said Elsipogtog expects a direct relationship with the Crown in dealing with its pipeline concerns.

"The board . . . cannot fulfil completely the Crown's obligations and we think it's important that's reflected ultimately in the board's report," MacIvor said. http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/n-b-mi-kmaq-deeply-concerned-about-energy-east-pipeline-impact-on- treaty-rights-1.3022882

Maliseet First Nations voice concerns on Energy East pipeline http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/energy-east-pipeline-transcanada-route-1.3723890

Energy East pipeline requires First Nations consent, interveners tell NEB

TransCanada will 'strive to reach consent,' and avoid, mitigate any potential effects, VP tells public hearing

43 Several First Nations groups appeared as interveners, including Esgenoôpetitj First Nation Chief Alvery Paul, who asked Van der Put whether TransCanada recognizes the need for their consent.

First Nations in the Maritimes signed peace and friendship treaties, but did not cede their lands to the Crown, as was done in other parts of the country. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/transcanada-energy-east-neb-first-nations-1.3714993? cmp=rss

Video - Matt Abbot discusses Energy East Hearings http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=927226 National Energy Board Past Hearings https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/prtcptn/hrng/hrngnspst-eng.html

Energy East 8-10 August 2016, Saint John, NB http://neb.isilive.net/EE/2016-08-08/english.mp3 http://neb.isilive.net/EE/2016-08-09/english.mp3 http://neb.isilive.net/EE/2016-08-10/english.mp3

TransCanada vows to comply with NEB ruling on Bay of Fundy tanker traffic

Calgary-based company says 281 oil tanker visits per year will come to Bay of Fundy if Energy East is approved

TransCanada Corp. is vowing to continue working with Bay of Fundy groups about the issue of increased tanker traffic in the region if the National Energy Board approves the company's request to build the Energy East pipeline project, according to an official.

The Conservation Council of New Brunswick asked the regulatory board this week at its hearings in Saint John to clarify what it considers to be the impact zone of the proposed pipeline project and how the Bay of Fundy factors into the discussion.

In a response on Thursday evening, a national Energy Board spokesperson said the environmental and socio-economic effects of increased marine shipping have been identified by the board as issues for it's consideration in the proceedings.

Many of the ships expected to visit the marine terminal would be supertankers, including vessels capable of carrying more than two million barrels of oil. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/transcanada-energy-east-tanker-traffic-1.3717203

44 1000 fishermen are thrown overboard by the NEB on Day #1 Energy East hearing

It was a stunning public relations blunder by the NEB. On the very first day of the Energy East review process, instead of welcoming and accepting comments and concerns from a 1000+ fishermen association in Nova Scotia, the three NEB Board members took only two (2) minutes before deciding to strike down their remarks from the hearing record.

The NEB Board members did not make this decision on their own. They were instructed to consider taking this position by one of the lawyers for TransCanada seated at the head tables of the room.

Fortunately, I captured this remarkable exchange on video while attending the NEB panel session in Saint John on August 8, 2016. The words from the lawyer for TransCanada, Mr. Kemm Yates, sounded more like a directive to the NEB rather than an legal objection for their consideration:

(13:02) Mr. Kemm Yates, lawyer for TransCanada Pipelines Limited and Energy East Pipeline Ltd. (from law firm Blakes, Cassels & Graydon LLP, Calgary, Alberta). "I would take the position that the Panel will not respond to the question about the Panel Session in Nova Scotia for the reasons articulated by Mr. Watton. Secondly, the jurisdictional question is a question of law and the Panel will not be responding to that either." "…..Mr. Chairman I submit that all of this submission on behalf of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen's Association cannot form part of the record since they are not an Intervenor and they are not entitled to make a presentation here, leaving aside entirely the question of whether the Ecology Action Centre would have any entitlement to make a submission on behalf of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishery Association."

The NEB panel members quickly huddled together to discuss their response. After only two minutes, they turned on their microphone to deny the Nova Scotia fishery association's comments and concerns:

(15:15) NEB Panel members. "Any submission by the Ecology Action Centre here will be considered but we cannot accept without - there are many other ways of doing it - but that fishery organization that you are talking about is not an Intervenor, and this is a process for Intervenors. So we will have to agree with TransCanada Council that this cannot stand here."

It is worth noting that the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen's Association, the largest fishers' association in Nova Scotia, have never been consulted by TransCanada on this proposed project or associated tanker traffic through the Bay of Fundy. http://canadians.org/blog/1000-fishermen-are-thrown-overboard-neb-day-1-energy-east-hearing

Concerns of 1000 Fishermen Denied by NEB at Energy East Hearing #1 of 2 (Aug 8, 2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBYSX0TO1lk

Concerns of 1000 Fishermen Denied by NEB at Energy East Hearing #2 of 2 (Aug 8, 2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80JkXToS05U

Press Conference before NEB Hearing on Energy East, #1 of 3 (Saint John, August 8, 2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WB4j_S9_CqQ

45 Press Conference before NEB Hearing on Energy East, #2 of 3 (Saint John, August 8, 2016) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEqUTZXEYOk

Press Conference before NEB Hearing on Energy East, #3 of 3 (Saint John, August 8, 2016) . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWMLHwzfmp0

Ontario Energy Board updates consultation requirements for Energy East pipeline

TORONTO _ The Ontario Energy Board is issuing new guidelines to better define obligations to consult First Nations communities about “hydrocarbon pipelines,” just days after the National Energy Board opened hearings into the $15.7 billion Energy East project.

The provincial board said the revisions to the Indigenous consultation section of the guidelines issued Thursday will “streamline and clarify roles and obligations for the Ministry of Energy, the OEB and pipeline proponents.”

The ministry will then delegate to the pipeline proponents the responsibility to conduct consultations, which would include meetings with Indigenous communities to assess the potential effects on their rights, keeping the Crown appraised of the rights asserted by First Nations and discussing options to accommodate those adversely affected. http://aptn.ca/news/2016/08/12/ontario-energy-board-updates-consultation-requirements-for-energy- east-pipeline/

Media Silent as Native Americans Successfully Halt Construction on Oil Pipeline

Construction of a controversial crude oil pipeline, which will span 1,168 miles from North Dakota to Illinois, has been protested relentlessly by Native American tribes for several reasons. Their protesting, which has put construction at a stand-still for nearly a week, has caused the production company, Energy Transfer Partners of Dallas, to agree to halt construction at the protest site for now.

Members of the Standing Rock Sioux and Lakota Sioux tribes have said since the pipeline’s inception that it could pollute a crucial source of drinking water for the tribes and it intrudes on their sacred lands. http://www.nationofchange.org/2016/08/20/media-silent-native-americans-successfully-halt- construction-oil-pipeline/

Proposed Energy East Pipeline continuing to divide the people of western New Brunswick

EDMUNDSTON, NB (WAGM) - The Energy East Pipeline is a hot button issue in New Brunswick and all across Canada. The pipeline would travel from Alberta to Saint John, New Brunswick if it is completed. Two communities that the pipeline would flow through, disagree on some major points of the project.

Mayor Cyrille Simard of Edmundston says that the community is worried about the project that would flow through the city. Just down the road Plaster Rock is behind the project and believes that it will help

46 create jobs. Plaster Rock Mayor, Alexis Fenner says, "They will bring with them about 6,000 people to work on the pipeline. It will take 3 to 4 years to build. Those are people that can pay mortgages and put food on the table. It isn't going to fix all the problems but it is going to help."

Mayor Simard says it isn't about being for or against the pipeline, it is about what is best for the people Edmundston. He says that the watershed would be at risk because of the pipeline. The city would have to build a large and expensive water treatment plant. "And in the eventuality that you have a spillage that would reach our underground supply, we don't have another source of water within the municipality." He continued on to say, "We understand that the possibility of zero risk without going around the watershed is impossible, but the risk has to be at least somewhat acceptable." http://www.wagmtv.com/content/news/Energy-East-Pipeline-continuing-to-divide-western-New- Brunswick-390573751.html

New Documents Show Oil Industry Even More Evil Than We Thought

Oil companies’ coordinated cover-up of climate risks stretches back decades and rivals that of big tobacco companies.

In 1968, a pair of scientists from Stanford Research Institute wrote a report for the American Petroleum Institute, a trade association for America’s oil and natural gas industry. They warned that “man is now engaged in a vast geophysical experiment with his environment, the earth” — one that “may be the cause of serious world-wide environmental changes.”

The scientists went on: “If the Earth’s temperature increases significantly, a number of events might be expected to occur including the melting of the Antarctic ice cap, a rise in sea levels, warming of the oceans and an increase in photosynthesis.”

That 48-year-old report, which accurately foreshadowed what’s now happening, is among a trove of public documents uncovered and released Wednesday by the Washington-based Center for International Environmental Law. Taken together, documents that the organization has assembled show that oil executives were well aware of the serious climate risks associated with carbon dioxide emissions decades earlier than previously documented — and they covered it up. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/oil-cover-up-climate_us_570e98bbe4b0ffa5937df6ce

TransCanada willing to change Energy East pipeline route, official says

Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. may make changes to the Energy East pipeline route in the months to come, according to the company's vice president of eastern oil pipeline projects.

"We will continue to take on board additional comments and yes, there might be additional changes to the pipeline route as we go forward," said John Van der Put in Fredericton.

The TransCanada executive spoke to reporters on Tuesday after the final day of National Energy Board hearings on the pipeline in New Brunswick.

The regulatory board met for three days in Saint John last week and two days in Fredericton this week. • Edmundston mayor questions Energy East pipeline route

47 • Energy East pipeline requires First Nations consent, interveners tell NEB • Maliseet First Nations voice concerns on Energy East pipeline http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/energy-east-pipeline-transcanada-route-1.3723890

Energy East Would be a Bad Deal for New Brunswick

There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Energy East would be a bad deal for New Brunswickers. If built, the export pipeline would create few permanent jobs in New Brunswick while putting many drinking water sources and the iconic Bay of Fundy at risk of an oil spill. As the embattled National Energy Board (NEB) moves its hearings from Saint John to Fredericton this week, let’s take a closer look at why New Brunswickers should reject Energy East. http://environmentaldefence.ca/2016/08/15/energy-east-bad-deal-new-brunswick/

Crude Awakening: 37 years of oil spills in Alberta

Timelapse: All spills of crude oil crude bitumen and synthetic crude in Alberta each year from 1975- 2012. Each dot is one spill; dot size does not indicate spill size. Source: Energy Resources Conservation Board

Alberta’s had an average of two crude oil spills a day, every day for the past 37 years. That makes 28,666 crude oil spills in total, plus another 31,453 spills of just about any other substance you can think of putting in a pipeline – from salt water to liquid petroleum.

It sounds like a lot. And it isn’t a number the provincial government throws around often. Authorities point to a much more encouraging statistic: There were 1.5 incidents per 1000 kilometres of pipeline in 2011, and that figure’s been dropping for the past three years.

It’s true: According to a database of spills recorded by the Energy Resources Conservation Board and obtained by Global News, the number of spills, leaks and other unintentional releases of material by the oil and gas industry has been declining over the past decade or so. http://globalnews.ca/news/571494/introduction-37-years-of-oil-spills-in-alberta/

Native American Pipeline Protest Halts Construction in N. Dakota

A groundswell of Native American activists has temporarily shut down construction on a major new oil pipeline with an ongoing protest that has drawn around 1,200 people to Cannon Ball, N.D.

Construction workers walked away from their bulldozers Monday after protesters surrounded the equipment and called for an end to construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. A group of protesters on horseback also staged a mock charge toward a line of law enforcement officials guarding the site, and the county sheriff alleged others have fired guns and set off pipe bombs.

The $3.8 billion pipeline at the heart of the protest would carry about half a million barrels of crude oil per day from the Bakken oil field to Illinois where it would link with other pipelines to transport the oil to Gulf Coast refineries and terminals.

48 https://insideclimatenews.org/news/18082016/native-americans-sioux-tribe-protest-north-dakota- access-bakken-oil-pipeline-fossil-fuels

Group Asks Compromised Board Members to Step Down from NEB Panel Reviewing Energy East

National Energy Board (NEB) panel members must recuse themselves to ensure Energy East pipeline review is impartial, group says.

UN declaration will allow pipeline veto: N.B. Aboriginal leaders

UN Declaration for Indigenous Rights could be powerful tool to oppose Energy East, First Nations leaders say

"I'm very confident that by the Liberal federal government supporting the declaration ... that we will have the opportunity to say no," said Tremblay.

49 Excuse us, but...

This morning, the editorial board of the Telegraph Journal advised us in the paper (download here) that we should be considering the greater good regarding the TransCanada pipeline project.

We can’t help but agree. Doing the opposite would basically mean putting the sole water supply of an entire population at risk. I call this considering the greater good. Because, you see, that’s the crux of the problem. Edmundston is not being belligerent or trying to stop this province’s economic development. We are trying to protect our drinking water.

In the paper's August 17th editorial, the writer somehow fails to mention that Edmundston and Madawaska Maliseet First Nation residents have only ONE underground water supply. Should it be contaminated, we would have NO drinking water until the construction of an expensive water treatment facility and installations.

We were also advised by the paper's editorial board that we should study the safety of pipelines. We have. At length. We have ALWAYS said that we were neither for nor against the pipeline. We are against the proposed route, which runs directly in our provincially protected watershed. http://edmundston.ca/en/l-hotel-de-ville/blogue-du-maire/774-excusez-nous-mais http://edmundston.ca/images/communiques/2016/editorial-TJ-17-08-2016.png

NEB bans critics from speaking out about accusations of bias at Montreal hearings

Canada's National Energy Board says it won't allow critics to speak out about accusations of bias against its panelists during hearings next week in Montreal, despite a month of explosive revelations about alleged improprieties and conflicts of interest at the federal pipeline regulator.

Lawyers representing environmental groups in Quebec and Ontario demanded this month that Jacques Gauthier and Lyne Mercier recuse themselves from the proceedings because they allegedly broke NEB rules, in January 2015, when they discussed the pipeline project during private meetings with former Quebec premier Jean Charest and other stakeholders. Charest was working as a consultant for Energy East pipeline proponent TransCanada Corp. at the time of the meeting with the NEB panelists and was invited by Gauthier specifically to discuss the project.

In a letter sent on Tuesday to all hearing participants, the NEB said it would proceed with hearings in Montreal. However, the NEB's secretary, Sheri Young, added that the board would only allow people to submit written comments about the allegations and evidence uncovered in recent reports by National Observer. As a result, no one would be permitted to speak out loud "on these matters" during Energy East panel sessions, the letter indicated. http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/08/23/news/neb-bans-critics-speaking-out-loud-about- accusations-bias-montreal-hearings

Intervenor claims pipeline companies were using substandard pipe. https://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/documents/54603/54603E.pdf

50 Did spin doctors convince the NEB to change its tune on exploding pipeline?

Canada’s pipeline watchdog changed its tune on the causes of a high-profile pipeline rupture after a parts manufacturer hired National, a prominent public relations firm, to address concerns about an emergency safety order issued in February. The about-face came as the Quebec-based manufacturer, Ezeflow, pledged to work with the regulator and "correct the facts" in the wake of an investigation that found substandard parts were partly responsible for causing a TransCanada Corp. natural gas pipeline to blow up near the oilsands in Northern Alberta in October 2013. The rupture prompted the watchdog, Canada's National Energy Board (NEB), to issue the emergency order cracking down on substandard parts in pipelines, drawing protests from the manufacturer. http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/07/06/news/did-spin-doctors-convince-neb-change-its-tune- exploding-pipeline

Amnesty International to observe pipeline protest

Amnesty International has sent a delegation of human rights observers to monitor the law enforcement response to the camp protesting the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri River.

Thousands of people, including members of at least 60 Native American tribes, have camped out south of Mandan near the construction site of the pipeline -- which, if completed, will take Bakken oil to Illinois. http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/amnesty-international-to-observe-pipeline- protest/article_66e80bde-58cd-524b-9e8b-1fdf6f96291b.html? utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share

National Energy Board Past Hearings Saint John and Fredericton https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/prtcptn/hrng/hrngnspst-eng.html

Energy East 8-10 August 2016, Saint John, NB http://neb.isilive.net/EE/2016-08-08/english.mp3 http://neb.isilive.net/EE/2016-08-09/english.mp3 http://neb.isilive.net/EE/2016-08-10/english.mp3

Energy East 15-16 August 2016, Fredericton, NB http://neb.isilive.net/EE/2016-08-15/english.mp3 http://neb.isilive.net/EE/2016-08-16/english.mp3

51 Rescue Operation Underway as Transocean Rig Smashes into Scottish Shore

Rescue Operations have began as the Transocean Winner drilling rig, weighing 17,000 tonnes has washed ashore and collided with the coastline in Dalmore near the village of Carloway after being hit by severe storms in the early hours of this morning.

While being towed, the vessel became detached from it's tug and was pulled by high winds and storms into the famous west coast shoreline. https://www.oilandgaspeople.com/news/9417/rescue-operation-underway-as-transocean-rig-smashes- into-scottish-shore/

NEB to consider response to bias perceptions on Energy East panel

CALGARY -- The National Energy Board says it is accepting written comments on motions calling for two of three people to step down from a panel reviewing the Energy East Pipeline over perceptions of bias.

The move follows revelations, first reported by the National Observer, that panel members Jacques Gauthier and Lyne Mercier met privately with Jean Charest early last year while he was a consultant for TransCanada (TSX:TRP), the company behind the $15.7-billion Energy East project.

Numerous environmental groups have called for the two panel members to recuse themselves from the review because of what they say is a reasonable apprehension of bias. http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/neb-to-consider-response-to-bias-perceptions-on-energy-east-panel- 1.3043397

The National Energy Board is fundamentally broken.

That was a point repeatedly highlighted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the 2015 federal election — and one confirmed for many with recent revelations that former Quebec premier Jean Charest had privately met with senior NEB officials while on the payroll of TransCanada.

Trudeau and his federal cabinet have the chance to change that: in June, the government announced dual review panels to assess the mandates and operations of the NEB and the country’s oft-criticized post-2012 environmental assessment processes (it also announced five interim principles until those reviews are completed, including a requirement to assess upstream greenhouse gas emissions although it’s unclear how that information is being used).

Tweet: Pause button must be hit on reviews of #KinderMorgan & #TransCanada pipelines http://bit.ly/2bwX8Ie @JustinTrudeau #cdnpoli #bcpoliBut for those to serve as anything more than symbolic gestures of goodwill, the pause button must be hit on the reviews of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain and TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline proposals.

Those review processes need to be completely redone once recommendations from the two review panels have been implemented. http://www.desmog.ca/2016/08/24/why-trudeau-should-call-reviews-trans-mountain-and-energy-east

52 Énergie Est : Coderre demande le report des audiences de l'Office national de l'énergie

East Energy: Coderre request the postponement of the hearings of the National Energy Board

Incertain de l'impartialité du processus, Denis Coderre demande la suspension des audiences de l'Office national de l'énergie (ONE) sur le projet de pipeline Energie Est.

Le maire de Montréal doit y présenter un mémoire lundi, mais il se dit désormais « mal à l'aise » avec le fait que deux des trois commissaires attitrés au dossier ont rencontré Jean Charest en janvier 2015 alors qu'il était consultant pour TransCanada.

« Lundi, l'éléphant dans la pièce ça va être la question : est-ce que ces gens-là sont aptes à être des commissaires? » a déclaré le maire en fin d'après-midi lors d'un point de presse à l'hôtel de ville. « Je demande à ce qu'on puisse retarder ce processus qui donne une impression problématique... Si on rencontre des lobbyistes pour TransCanada, ça envoie un message un peu bizarre », a-t-il ajouté.

Unsure of the impartiality of the process, Denis Coderre demand the suspension of the hearings of the National Energy Board (NEB) on Energy East pipeline project.

Montreal mayor must present a Monday memory, but it now says "uncomfortable" with the fact that two of the three anchor Commissioners folder Jean Charest met in January 2015 while he was a consultant for TransCanada.

"On Monday, the elephant in the room is going to be the question: Do these people are able to be of Commissioners? "Said the mayor in the late afternoon during a press briefing at City Hall. "I ask that we can delay this process gives a printing problem ... If we find lobbyist for TransCanada, it sends a weird message," he added.

Google translate https://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F %2Fwww.lapresse.ca%2Factualites%2Fmontreal%2F201608%2F25%2F01-5013992-energie-est- coderre-demande-le-report-des-audiences-de-loffice-national-de-lenergie.php&edit-text= http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/montreal/201608/25/01-5013992-energie-est-coderre-demande-le- report-des-audiences-de-loffice-national-de-lenergie.php

Tar Sands In The Atlantic Ocean: Transcanada’s Proposed Energy East Pipeline

The Natural Resources Defense Council

A project like Energy East has no place in a world facing the daily threats of a changing climate, and in which policymakers strive to implement the changes necessary to mitigate these threats as much as possible. In the face of this threat, robust, objective environmental review is a necessity—both because it allows the public to fully grasp the potential impacts, and because it places major oil infrastructure projects like Energy East within the global environmental context.

Currently, the scope of environmental review for Energy East under Canada’s NEB is woefully inadequate.

53 First, the review does not consider upstream environmental impacts of expanded tar sands oil production, even though hoped-for expansions in production are the reason the pipeline was proposed.

Second, potential climate impacts will be considered in an as- process that is expected to lack any meaningful consideration of the life cycle impacts of the tar sands diluted bitumen moved by the pipeline and tankers.

Third, it remains unclear whether Canadian regulators are willing to seriously consider the growing body of evidence showing that neither Canada nor the United States is prepared to deal with tar sands oil spills. In light of the project’s substantial negative impacts, an objective and robust review of Energy East would almost certainly support its rejection. https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/transcanada-energy-east-pipeline-report.pdf? link_id=8&can_id&source=email-300-supertankers-full-of-tar-sands-oil&email_referrer=300- supertankers-full-of-tar-sands-oil___99954&email_subject=300-supertankers-full-of-tar-sands-oil

Tribal Rights & the Dakota Access Pipeline - Thom Hartmann, The Green Report

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its allies from other indigenous nations are protesting the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline.

Once finished - the pipeline will bring oil almost 1200 miles from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota all the way to Illinois.

Although the project was approved by the government -the Standing Rock Sioux say their interests and historical claims were not taken into account when that decision was made.

Which is why they've now brought their protest right here to Washington, DC. Today - the Standing Rock Sioux asked a federal judge to put the Dakota Access pipeline on hold.

They also led a really outside the court - which was attended by people from around the country - including actresses Susan Sarandon and Shailene Woodley.

Joining me now is the woman who MC'd today's rally - Bobbi Jean Three Legs - a Youth Organizer with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3svi-c4USuA

Rewrite: the Protests at Standing Rock

In the Rewrite, Lawrence explains why a protest by Native Americans in North Dakota reminds us of the history America always tries to forget. http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/rewrite-the-protests-at-standing-rock-751440963846

54 Canada pipeline panel apologizes, releases records on meeting with Charest

Critics insist the records prove the regulator can't be trusted to deal evenhandedly with the pipeline and oil industries. The records consist of emails and personal notes from meetings, and show that Jacques Gauthier, a member of Canada's pipeline regulator, the National Energy Board (NEB), invited former premier Jean Charest to discuss TransCanada Corp's Energy East pipeline in December 2014. This came a few months after Gauthier and other NEB members were named on a three member panel to review the project.

Emails contradict NEB's earlier statements

Five page document https://www.scribd.com/document/321029825/ES-AQPLA-Legal-Notice-NEB

Temporary water line damaged in Prince Albert

The line is one of two temporary water lines that were installed after a Husky Energy pipeline leaked oil into the North Saskatchewan River last month. The temporary lines are providing the city’s only safe source of water.

The city’s public works manager tells CTV News that whoever damaged the line is putting a lot of people at risk.

All water restrictions in Prince Albert, implemented after the oil spill, were lifted Wednesday, with officials stating they’re confident the temporary lines can supply the city. http://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/temporary-water-line-damaged-in-prince-albert-1.3044145

Tripod Blockade Halts Coal Train in Bellingham, WA

Along with oil trains and natural gas pipelines, coal trains have been a continuous source of protest in the region since mining was expanded in Montana’s Powder River Basin in 2009.

55 Earlier this year, the Lummi effectively smashed a permit for the Cherry Point coal terminal just 13 miles northwest of Bellingham, insisting that the environmentally destructive affair would have interfered with fishing grounds.

As the scientific consensus against climate change increases, greater stock is being taken of the companies responsible for bringing it about. Actions like this continue to apply the pressure to the perpetrators of climate change in solidarity with indigenous peoples who continue to stand against the legacy and perpetuation of colonialism. http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2016/08/27/breaking-tripod-blockade-halts-coal-train-in-bellingham- wa/

Downeast LNG terminal proposal in Maine dismissed

Proposal that was initiated 10 years ago dismissed by U.S. regulator due to lack of progress

The application to build a LNG terminal in Robbinston, Maine, opposite St. Andrews, has been dismissed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the United States.

This proposal was the last of three separate Maine LNG plans to be dismissed and marks the end of 10 years of preparations by Downeast LNG, the group responsible for the proposal.

The order stated "There has been essentially no progress at all toward completion of an application in the past nine months, and Downeast has presented nothing to persuade us that its situation is likely to change in the immediate future." http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/lng-terminal-passamaquoddy-maine-1.3727050

Ruptured Pipeline Spills Oil Into Yellowstone River - 2011

An ExxonMobil pipeline running under the Yellowstone River in south central Montana ruptured late Friday, spilling crude oil into the river and forcing evacuations.

The pipeline burst about 10 miles west of Billings, coating parts of the Yellowstone River that run past Laurel — a town of about 6,500 people downstream from the rupture — with shiny patches of oil. Precisely how much oil leaked into the river was still unclear. But throughout the day Saturday, cleanup crews in Laurel worked to lessen the impact of the spill, laying down absorbent sheets along the banks of the river to mop up some of the escaped oil, and measuring fumes to determine the health threat. http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/us/03oilspill.html?_r=1&referer=http%3A%2F %2Fm.facebook.com%2F

56 Wait until Monday, Husky tells oil-impacted First Nation

The Calgary-based company was more than 40 minutes late to a meeting with the James Smith Cree Nation, then told it to wait until Monday for answers on its catastrophic oil spill. http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/08/26/news/wait-until-monday-husky-tells-oil-impacted-first- nation

Esquimalt chief raises alarm on cleanup weaknesses in wake of diesel spill

Almost four months after 30,000 litres of diesel was dumped into Esquimalt Harbour, a nearby beach remains closed and a fishing ban in effect, raising questions about preparedness for larger spills.

Plumper Beach, located near Admirals Walk and shared by the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations, was just beginning to rebound from decades of sawmill debris, said Esquimalt Chief Andy Thomas.

“It set our beaches back 30 years, because they were starting to come back. [Now] we can’t even walk on the beaches,” Thomas said. http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/esquimalt-chief-raises-alarm-on-cleanup-weaknesses-in- wake-of-diesel-spill-1.2332113

NEB review hearing into Energy East pipeline heads to hostile territory

MONTREAL -- The National Energy Board's review of the Energy East Pipeline heads to hostile territory Monday when it resumes in Montreal, where the city's mayor has called for the process to be suspended.

Denis Coderre, who has long opposed the $15.7-billion project, is scheduled to be the first to speak at the public hearings.

"I'm not sure of the impartiality of the process," he said Thursday. "I think they should take a break and look seriously at how it's done."

Steven Guilbeault, spokesman for environmental group Equiterre, said he has similar concerns even though his organization, as well as municipal leaders, First Nations representatives and others, also met with commissioners in advance of the hearings.

"I'm not saying that there is a conflict of interest, but certainly you want people to have trust in these processes," he said, adding that he told commissioners at the time that the meetings were unusual.

"Perceptions are very important (and) right now there is a perception that there is a bias." http://www.ctvnews.ca/business/neb-review-hearing-into-energy-east-pipeline-heads-to-hostile-territory- 1.3047547

57 Gunter: Montreal mayor Denis Coderre continues attack on Energy East pipeline

EDMONTON - Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre is at it again, demagoguing against the Energy East pipeline.

Back in January, the former federal Liberal cabinet minister said he couldn’t support the $15-billion pipeline from Alberta’s oilsands to refineries and ports in New Brunswick. It was too environmentally risky, he opined, and didn’t carry enough economic benefits for his city.

Now the Montreal politician is joining with three dozen radical environmental groups in calling for an indefinite suspension of the National Energy Board’s hearings into the pipeline, which are scheduled to begin in Montreal on Monday.

Coderre and the eco-activists insist the board’s impartiality has been compromised because NEB officials met with Jean Charest. A former federal Conservative cabinet minister who became the Liberal Premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012, Charest had a business relationship with TransCanada, the company seeking to build Energy East, at the time of his meeting with the NEB’s chairperson and two of its commissioners. http://www.edmontonsun.com/2016/08/27/gunter-montreal-mayor-continues-attack-on-energy-east- pipeline

Texas Ranch Owner Battles TransCanada to Restore Her Pipeline-Scarred Land

Eleanor Fairchild, an 82-year-old grandmother who owns a 425-acre ranch outside of Winnsboro, Texas, has advice for anyone who is asked to sign a contract by a company that wants to build a pipeline to transport tar sands oil on their land: “Don’t sign it.”

During a recent visit to her ranch, I saw the damage to her land caused by the installation of TransCanada’s Gulf Coast Pipeline, which is the original southern route of the Keystone XL pipeline before the project was broken into segments.

I first met Fairchild in October 2012, a few days after she was arrested, along with environmentalist actress Daryl Hannah. The two had stood in the way of land-moving vehicles on Fairchild’s land where TransCanada had started clearing trees and readying a right-of-way to install its pipeline. http://www.desmogblog.com/2016/08/28/texas-ranch-owner-battles-transcanada-restore-her-pipeline- scarred-land

National Energy Board fights to restore legitimacy as Quebec hearings begin

Can the public trust the NEB's recommendations after recent scandals? The traveling road-show that is the National Energy Board hearings into the Energy East pipeline rolls into Montreal on Monday.

The challenge the board faces in Quebec, though, won't simply be weighing the various perspectives. It has to contend with both political and popular skepticism about its credibility.

58 As the New Brunswick hearings got underway, questions were being raised in Quebec about a meeting held last year between two NEB board members and former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who has worked for TransCanada on pipeline issues.

At first the NEB said Energy East wasn't discussed, but then National Observer journalist Mike De Souza turned up minutes from the meeting that showed it was.

The NEB apologized and claimed its panel members weren't aware that Charest was employed at the time by TransCanada. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/national-energy-board-montreal-hearings-analysis-1.3738888

Montreal mayor cancels appearance to open proceedings, calling them a 'circus'

The National Energy Board hearings in Montreal into the proposed $15.7-billion Energy East pipeline were cancelled early into the proceedings Monday after protesters stormed into the room, prompting the commissioners to leave and resulting in at least two arrests.

The ruckus began before Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre addressed the proceedings as the scheduled first speaker.

He cancelled his appearance, calling the proceedings a "circus."

Coderre, who has been an outspoken critic of the proposed pipeline, said he may hold his presentation on Tuesday instead.

Parts of TransCanada pipeline network weaker than expected, documents show

At the hearing, one man ran to the table where the commissioners were seated and almost knocked it over. NEB commissioners left the room and police entered soon after to remove the protesters. http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/montreal/neb-hearings-energy-east-protest-quebec-2016- 1.3739215

Montreal NEB hearings postponed after all hell breaks loose https://ricochet.media/en/1356/montreal-neb-hearings-postponed-after-all-hell-breaks-loose

Parts of TransCanada pipeline network made of substandard material: documents

More than 1,000 fittings are weaker than expected, making them less resistant to ruptures

Documents from TransCanada and obtained by Radio-Canada's investigative program Enquête reveal the company's pipeline network, including a stretch that would be used to transport oil if the Energy East project goes ahead, comprises more than 1,000 fittings possibly made of substandard material.

The National Energy Board (NEB) has known since 2008 that some elbows and steel fittings installed in Canadian pipelines are less resistant to rupture, but the regulator only issued a safety notice about the problem in February.

59 The fittings targeted by the NEB order are aren't thick enough, a detail that escaped TransCanada at the time of installation. The NEB required companies under its jurisdiction to provide a list indicating the locations of all questionable fittings.

In the only TransCanada Keystone pipeline in Canada, there are more than 1,200 fittings that don't meet the requirements.

Another 225 problematic fittings have been identified within its natural gas network, including 30 in the stretch that ends in Les Cèdres, Que. west of Montreal.

Another affected section, in North Bay, Ont., will be converted to transport oil if the Energy East project goes ahead. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/transcanada-pipeline-material-energy-east-1.3739375

Intervenor claims pipeline companies were using substandard pipe. https://www.ceaa-acee.gc.ca/050/documents/54603/54603E.pdf

Did spin doctors convince the NEB to change its tune on exploding pipeline?

The about-face came as the Quebec-based manufacturer, Ezeflow, pledged to work with the regulator and "correct the facts" in the wake of an investigation that found substandard parts were partly responsible for causing a TransCanada Corp. natural gas pipeline to blow up near the oilsands in Northern Alberta in October 2013.

The rupture prompted the watchdog, Canada's National Energy Board (NEB), to issue the emergency order cracking down on substandard parts in pipelines, drawing protests from the manufacturer. http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/07/06/news/did-spin-doctors-convince-neb-change-its-tune- exploding-pipeline

NEB indefinitely suspends Energy East hearings

Board cites problems with logistics and security in announcing decision

Tonight, the axe finally fell. Shortly after 7 p.m. EDT, Radio-Canada reported in French that the Board’s hearings on the Energy East pipeline proposal would be suspended indefinitely.

The question now is what next? The Trudeau government promised during the last election campaign to overhaul the NEB process, and when buttonholed by the Dogwood Initative’s Kai Nagata, promised that existing projects like Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline in B.C. would have to undergo the new, strengthened process.

60 Instead, Trudeau has left the NEB he so fiercely criticized as a candidate largely untouched as it performs its most controversial reviews yet, adding an additional level of cabinet review to ongoing processes and initating a nebulous “modernization” initative to review the state of the NEB itself. https://ricochet.media/en/1361/neb-indefinitely-suspends-energy-east-hearings

Des pièces de pipelines douteuses Parts of questionable pipelines

Plus de 1400 pièces contiennent potentiellement «des matériaux aux propriétés de qualité inférieure»

Une trentaine de pièces problématiques se retrouvent dans un gazoduc à l’ouest de Montréal et au moins cinq dans une partie de gazoduc qui sera convertie en oléoduc pour le projet Énergie Est. C’est l’une de ces pièces qui a provoqué la rupture d’un pipeline de gaz naturel en Alberta en 2013.

Plus de 1400 pièces présentes dans des pipelines de TransCanada contiennent potentiellement « des matériaux aux propriétés de qualité inférieure ». Elles font l’objet d’un avis de sécurité de l’Office national de l’énergie (ONE), produit par l’instance huit ans après avoir pris connaissance du problème. En février dernier, l’Office a diffusé un avis de sécurité exigeant le signalement de certains tuyaux et raccord par toutes les compagnies relevant de sa compétence. Les pièces visées ont été fabriquées par Canadoil Asia en Thaïlande et Ezeflow, qui possède une usine à Granby faisant la promotion du projet Énergie Est.

61 More than 1,400 rooms contain potentially "materials with inferior properties"

Thirty problematic parts are found in a pipeline west of Montreal and at least five in a pipeline section which will be converted into the pipeline to East Energy project. This is one of those pieces that ruptured a natural gas pipeline in Alberta in 2013.

Over 1400 pieces found in TransCanada's pipeline contains potentially ' materials with inferior properties ". They are the subject of a notice of security National Energy Board (NEB), produced by the body eight years after becoming aware of the problem. In February, the Board issued a safety notice requiring the reporting of some pipe and fitting by all companies under its jurisdiction. The affected parts were manufactured by Canadoil Asia in Thailand and Ezeflow, which has a plant in Granby East by promoting energy project. http://www.ledevoir.com/environnement/actualites-sur-l-environnement/478741/des-centaines-de- pieces-potentiellement-faibles-dans-les-pipelines-de-transcanada

Google translation https://translate.google.ca/translate?sl=fr&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F %2Fwww.ledevoir.com%2Fenvironnement%2Factualites-sur-l-environnement%2F478741%2Fdes- centaines-de-pieces-potentiellement-faibles-dans-les-pipelines-de-transcanada&edit-text=

The National Energy Board has a credibility issue it can no longer ignore

It is never acceptable for people to disrupt a public meeting, as a few screaming protesters did in Montreal on Monday during the National Energy Board’s hearings into the Energy East pipeline. That the protesters forced the cancellations of the hearings for the day is even more galling.

But to dismiss the protesters’ main contention – that the credibility of the NEB has been compromised – is self-defeating. The NEB has botched these hearings, perhaps beyond repair, and ignoring this fact will not somehow make it go away.

The problem dates back to last year, when two of the three commissioners overseeing the review of the Energy East pipeline met with former Quebec premier Jean Charest. Mr. Charest was under contract at the time as a lobbyist for TransCanada, the company that wants to build the ambitious project to bring Alberta crude oil to Saint John. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/editorials/the-national-energy-board-has-a-credibility-issue-it- can-no-longer-ignore/article31599667/

Chipman mayor backs Energy East pipeline as rail traffic jumps

Carson Atkinson estimates his village has seen roughly 50% more rail traffic carrying oil since 2014

As protesters in Montreal shut down the National Energy Board hearings on the Energy East pipeline Monday, the mayor of one New Brunswick village along the route is in favour of it, thanks to his concerns about an increase of oil by rail through his community.

Chipman Mayor Carson Atkinson says there have been more rail cars carrying oil at faster speeds on the CN line through the village since upgrades were completed two years ago.

62 "It was reported to me by a local contractor that the speed has been increased through Chipman and I understand that there are a large number of cars going through, up to a couple hundred at a time," said Atkinson.

"This community would be devastated if there was an incident with a massive derailment and oil going into the river system."

The rail line crosses the Salmon River, which runs through the village. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/chipman-rail-pipeline-pump-station-1.3740313

Rail, pipeline and climate disasters are symptoms of fossil fuel addiction

Like smokers who put off quitting until their health starts to suffer, we're learning what happens when bad habits catch up with us. We're witnessing the terrible effects of fossil fuel addiction every day: frequent, intense storms and floods, extended droughts, rapidly melting Arctic ice, disappearing glaciers, deadly smog and pollution, contaminated waterways and destroyed habitats. Transport accidents are also increasing as governments and industry scramble to get fuels out of the ground and to market as quickly as possible.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers expects oil production in Western Canada to double from three-million barrels a day to more than six-million by 2030. This means a huge increase in the amount of fuels transported around the country and the world in pipelines, rail cars, trucks and ocean tankers. According to the Railway Association of Canada, rail shipment of oil has already increased dramatically in Canada, from 500 carloads in 2009 to 140,000 this year.

It's true that rail accidents can be more devastating to human life than pipeline accidents — although when it comes to oil, pipeline breaks usually spill greater quantities and cause more environmental damage than train derailments. But shipping massive volumes of oil and gas is unsafe by either method. As we transport ever-increasing volumes of fossil fuels over greater distances to broader networks, we can expect more spills and accidents. Wastefully and rapidly burning them is also driving climate change, which experts say may even affect rail safety, as extreme heat and sudden temperature shifts can cause rails to buckle, increasing the potential for derailments.

Massive pipeline spills and devastating rail accidents are among the immediate and frightening consequences of our growing appetite for fossil fuels, but our bad habits are really starting to hit back with climate change. http://www.davidsuzuki.org/blogs/science-matters/2013/07/rail-pipeline-and-climate-disasters-are- symptoms-of-fossil-fuel-addiction/

Trudeau's new pipeline process: worse than National Energy Board?

The "supplementary process" on Kinder Morgan's proposed pipeline "is nothing if not short on rigour" Photo: Kai Nagata

63 First Nations leaders left in the dark. The public, once again, denied the chance to speak. Add to that a clear conflict of interest at the heart of the panel chosen to review Kinder Morgan’s pipeline proposal and you have a recipe for yet more lawsuits and squandered public trust.

It didn’t have to be this way. After nearly 10 years under Stephen Harper, British Columbians were yearning for a government that cared about public input and would actually listen to them.

We all know how much Harper scorned public consultation, highlighted by Minister Joe Oliver’s attack on well-meaning Canadians as “radicals” for having the temerity to accept the National Energy Board’s invitation to speak at Joint Review Panel hearings on Enbridge’s controversial pipeline and tanker proposal. http://www.nationalobserver.com/2016/08/05/opinion/will-horter-trudeaus-new-pipeline-process-worse- national-energy-board

Pipeline Explosion Kills 10 Campers in New Mexico

Federal, state and local authorities are investigating the cause of Saturday’s natural gas pipeline explosion that killed five adults and five children and left two other people in critical condition in southeast New Mexico.

The victims, members of two extended families, were camping early Saturday morning near the Pecos River, about 200 to 300 yards from the below-ground explosion.

The two adult survivors were in critical condition in a Lubbock, Texas hospital.

The 30-inch pipeline exploded around 5:30 a.m. Saturday, and left a crater about 86 feet long, 46 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Police say the resulting fire probably lasted 30 to 40 minutes. It reportedly was visible about 20 miles to the north in Carlsbad, N.M.

Authorities said one end of the ruptured line became a virtual flame-thrower, showering fire on the victims camped beneath a bridge about 200 yards away. http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire/2016/08/31/pipeline-explosion-kills-10-campers-in-new-mexico/

Local environmental group to challenge Energy East pipeline project at NEB hearing

Transitions Initiative Kenora members are in the process of preparing written questions and oral arguments for presentation at the National Energy Board (NEB) hearings on the TransCanada Pipelines Energy East Project this fall.

The local environmental and clean water advocacy group has also secured legal counsel to act on their behalf during the hearings.

“As a registered intervenor, we were approached by Eco Justice last year who offered to act as our legal counsel,” Transitions Initiative Kenora executive director Teika Newton explained. “They’re a national law firm that takes on clients working on environmental issues.”

64 Eco Justice most recently represented opponents of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion currently before the NEB. The proposal to twin an existing pipeline between Edmonton and Vancouver has encountered resistance by residents of communities along the route. http://www.kenoradailyminerandnews.com/2016/08/30/local-environmental-group-to-challenge-energy- east-pipeline-project-at-neb-hearing

'The Mother of All Risks': Insurance Giants Call on G20 to Stop Bankrolling Fossil Fuels

Multinational firms managing $1.2tn in assets declare subsidies for coal, oil, and gas 'simply unsustainable'

Warning that climate change amounts to the "mother of all risks," three of the world's biggest insurance companies this week are demanding that G20 countries stop bankrolling the fossil fuels industry.

Multi-national insurance giants Aviva, Aegon, and Amlin, which together manage $1.2tn in assets, released a statement Tuesday calling on the leaders of the world's biggest economies to commit to ending coal, oil, and gas subsidies within four years.

"Climate change in particular represents the mother of all risks—to business and to society as a whole. And that risk is magnified by the way in which fossil fuel subsidies distort the energy market," said Aviva CEO Mark Wilson. "These subsidies are simply unsustainable."

According to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), fossil fuel companies receive an estimated $5.3tn a year in global subsidies—a figure that included, as the IMF put it, the "real costs" associated with damage to the environment and human health that are foisted on populations but not paid by polluters. http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/08/29/mother-all-risks-insurance-giants-call-g20-stop- bankrolling-fossil-fuels

Residents concerned about possible fracking near Lake Houston

Concerned residents held a community awareness meeting Aug. 23 to discuss exploratory oil drilling that is expected to begin in late September or early October near Lake Houston. The 107-acre site is in Huffman off Smith Road and E. Lake Houston Parkway near the Lakewood Heights subdivision. Long ago, property owners sold mineral rights, which were recently purchased by an oil exploration company that has been buying mineral rights on the shores of Lake Houston.

Concerned citizens say they have very reliable information that the company intends to start fracking this fall. The group has concerns about health impacts on nearby residents, as well as impacts to Lake Houston water, the primary source of water for Houston. To highlight these concerns, the group held two public meetings Aug. 23 – one in downtown Houston at First Unitarian Universalist Church and the other at a private residence in Kingwood. Presenters included Jere Locke of Austin, who is program director of the Texas Drought Project. Locke has been studying fracking and its impacts on water resources for the last five years. http://ourtribune.com/article.php?id=20755

65 Mining

Mount Polley mine still at risk for future tailings breach: analyst

The reopened Mount Polley mine is still at dangerous risk of another tailings pond collapse, despite British Columbia’s new mining code provisions aimed at ensuring that such a disaster never happens again, says a U.S. mining-sector analyst.

David Chambers, president of the Montana-based Center for Science in Public Participation – which provides technical assistance on mining and water quality to public interest groups – examined the conclusions of the government-appointed expert panel that reviewed the 2014 disaster.

On behalf of the Sierra Club BC, Mr. Chambers concluded that there is still latitude for problematic dam construction that could cause future issues, also noting there is a risk of another Mount Polley-type spill without engineering to deal with excess rainwater in such operations.

“One of the disturbing things I got out of this report is that there could be future failures,” said Bob Peart, who is executive director of the Sierra Club BC. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/mount-polley-mine-still-at-risk-for-future- tailings-breach-analyst/article31269473/

Mount Polley Mine Disaster Two Years In: ‘It’s Worse Than It’s Ever Been’

Thursday marks two years since the Mount Polley mine disaster in Likely, B.C. where a tailings pond collapse spilled 25 million cubic metres of mining waste, laced with contaminants like arsenic, lead and copper, into the once-pristine Quesnel Lake, a major salmon spawning ground and source of drinking water.

And rather than taking a precautionary approach to mining in the province, the government is doing everything it can to put British Columbians and Alaskans at risk of another Mount-Polley style disaster, according to Robyn Allan, economist and risk analysis expert.

“All the discussion about world-class and changes that are going to avoid these problems in the future is nothing more than rhetoric,” Allan told DeSmog Canada. http://www.desmog.ca/2016/08/04/mount-polley-mine-disaster-two-years-it-s-worse-it-s-ever-been

Two years after Mount Polley, questions about gov’t decisions linger.

Two years ago, on Aug. 4, 2014, the walls holding 25 million cubic metres of mine effluent in a tailings pond at the Mount Polley mine in Likely, B.C., collapsed, sending a wave of waste into nearby waterways. The result is considered one of the worst mining disasters in Canadian history. Two months ago, that same mine was permitted to resume full operations without a long-term water management plan, while an ongoing B.C. Conservation Officer Service investigation into the disaster continues and human rights concerns remain unaddressed.

66 The tailings pond breach released tonnes of toxic sludge into Polley Lake and salmon-bearing Quesnel Lake, and destroyed nearby Hazeltine Creek. And now, effluent from the re-opened mine flows once again from its rebuilt tailings pond into Quesnel Lake. http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2016/08/05/Protecting-BC-Rights/

Video: Watch 4 Billion Gallons of Mining Waste Pour Into Pristine B.C. Waterways

First Nations, environmentalists and just about everyone else are aghast at the severity of the toxic spill from a tailings pond.

On August 4 the tailings pond of the gold and copper open-pit Polley Mine, operated by Imperial Metals Corp., breached and sent billions of gallons of metals-laden silt and water into waterways awaiting the return of the salmon.

RELATED: Horrific Toxic Spill in B.C. Called Another Exxon Valdez

The mess has only just begun to wreak its environmental havoc, with campgrounds evacuated, a local emergency declared and a fishing ban imposed, among other immediate effects. Long-term damage is not yet known, and Imperial officials say they have no idea why it happened. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2014/08/07/video-watch-4-billion-gallons-mining-waste- pour-pristine-bc-waterways-156295

Mount Polley Mine Tailings Pond Breach https://youtu.be/vg3yd8GPSnA https://youtu.be/M1YgX2jXnpA

Samarco dam failure in Brazil 'caused by design flaws'

The deadly collapse of a dam at the Samarco mine in Brazil was due to design flaws, according to a report.

The Fundao dam-burst disaster caused a huge mudslide which killed 19 people and polluted a river.

The technical report, commissioned by Samarco's joint owners BHP Billiton and Vale, did not assign blame for the disaster.

A separate police investigation has accused iron miner Samarco of wilful misconduct, which the firm denies.

Dams holding mining waste, known as "tailings", commonly have walls made of a mixture of sand-like particles and clay-like silt.

The report said that a change in the Fundao dam's design between 2011 and 2012 led to less efficient water drainage, and ultimately to the dam's collapse in November 2015.

67 Sand in the dam walls became saturated, and abruptly started to behave more like a liquid, in a process known as "liquefaction". http://www.bbc.com/news/business-37218145

68 Forestry

Forbidden Forest - National Film Board of Canada

This feature-length documentary tells the story of two very different men brought together by New Brunswick's decision to hand the management of millions of acres of Crown land to six multinationals. One man is an Acadian woodlot owner retired after nearly 40 years in a pulp mill; the other is a painter and winemaker with homes in France and New Brunswick. https://www.nfb.ca/film/forbidden_forest/

NB forest in crisis, provincial government in denial [corrected]

A deer biologist who spent 15 years working for the government of New Brunswick says plunging deer populations in the province are part of a larger crisis in New Brunswick’s forests. According to Rod Cumberland, foresters in both government and industry have known for more than 20 years that the wood on public land was running out as a result of forestry practices.

Cumberland worked in New Brunswick’s Department of Natural Resources. He says scientific research makes it very clear that increases in harvest intensity and increased planting and spraying are linked to declining wildlife populations.

Speaking at the Doaktown Salmon Museum on August 10, Cumberland presented a wealth of data showing that as forest habitat was wiped out, deer numbers decreased and moved to other areas. All of that data has been studiously ignored by successive provincial governments.

As a Department of Natural Resources employee, Cumberland personally inspected deer yards across the province and noted that 20 percent of two areas that he had visited had what appeared to be adequate deer food. http://nbmediacoop.org/2016/08/15/nb-forest-in-crisis-provincial-government-in-denial/

Glyphosate protesters set up camp in Kedgwick River clearcut

Members of group EcoVie have protective gear but hope industry 'will not actually come and spray us'

A small group of environmental activists has set up an encampment in a clearcut near Kedgwick River to try to prevent it from being sprayed with glyphosate.

The 10 people from EcoVie say they intend to disrupt any spraying on the Crown land, which is licenced to Acadian Forest.

"We don't really know how long we'll be there," said spokeswoman Jean MacDonald. "Our main objective is to protect that one site.

"It's small. It's a start." http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/glyphosate-protest-kedgwick-river-1.3735542

69 Video Links