TAR SANDS at OUR DOORSTEP: the Threat to the Lake Champlain Region’S Waters, Wildlife and Climate ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

TAR SANDS AT OUR DOORSTEP: The Threat to the Lake Champlain Region’s Waters, Wildlife and Climate ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

AUTHORS The National Wildlife Federation wishes to Jim Murphy, National Wildlife Federation thank the following institutions and donors [email protected] whose generosity supports our efforts to Sheridan Brown, National Wildlife Federation keep tar sands out of the Northeast:

REVIEWERS/EDITORS CORPORATE AND FOUNDATION Catherine Bowes, National Wildlife Federation SUPPORTERS Johanna Miller, Vermont Natural Resources Council Canaday Family Charitable Trust Conor Bambrick, Environmental Advocates of New York David Blittersdorf Family Foundation Curtis Fisher, National Wildlife Federation Growald Family Fund Jenny Rowland, National Wildlife Federation Lintilhac Foundation Libby Johnson, National Wildlife Federation New Venture Fund Vermont Community Foundation’s Acorn Fund COVER PHOTOS Vermont Creamery top background: Flickr: found_drama bottom from left: Gary Lackie, Eric Kilby, Matt Jeppson/ INDIVIDUAL DONORS Shutterstock.com, USFWS Northeast Region Marcia Angermann Ingrid Barry This Report is available online at www.nwf.org/atourdoorstep Al Boright and Sandy Shenk Boright Edmund Coffin Ben Cohen Jito Coleman and Bonnie Atwater Mark Curran and Margie Straub Judy DiMario Ann Dion Matthew Dunne and Sarah Taylor Barbarina and Aaron Heyerdahl Curtis and Sue Hooper Jonathan Larsen and Mary Peacock Sally and Robert Linder David and Lucy Marvin Sarah Muyskens and Michael Green Hubert O’Brien Kinny Perot and Richard Czaplinski William and Lynette Raap Lili Ruane and Win Smith Mark and Sukey Schroeder Leigh Seddon and Ann Aspell Elizabeth Skarie and Jerry Greenfield Lisa Steele and Scott Hammond Rep. Kate and Marshall Webb

major battle is unfolding across New England, New York and beyond. The fight is whether our region, with a long Ahistory of successfully reducing pollution, protecting wildlife, improving public health and growing our economy with clean energy technologies, will become a large user and major transportation corridor of one of the dirtiest fossil fuels on earth –— tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada. The outcome of this fight will have dramatic implications on wildlife and communities, from potential toxic oil spills in our lakes and rivers to substantial increases in greenhouse gas pollution fueling climate change. J+KHOLLINGSWORTH

“Tar Sands at Our Doorstep” documents the tar sands oil industry’s three pronged attack to infiltrate the region with dirty, dangerous tar sands oil. The report highlights the impacts on one of the region’s most important natural resources, Lake Champlain, an international treasure often referred as the sixth Great Lake, and other critical habitats across the State of Vermont.

The oil industry is making moves to bring tar sands to the Northeast in three ways:

1. The Exxon-owned Portland Pipe Line Corporation has conducted a multi-year, well-funded lobbying and media effort to utilize its 64 year old pipeline that cuts through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine to transport dirty tar sands oil. This pipeline currently transports conventional oil from Portland, Maine to Montreal.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 1 THE CRUDE OIL RAIL LINE AND TAR SANDS PIPELINES

Crude Oil Rail Line 1 Tar Sands Pipelines 1 Missisquoi River 2 2 Willoughby State Forest

3 3 Connecticut River 5 4 4 Victory Bog 5 Lake Champlain

2. Each week tens of millions of gallons of explosive crude oil roll along the western banks of Lake Champlain in thinly lined tank cars —– described by many “as Pepsi cans on wheels.” This is part of an unprecedented increase in oil-by-rail transport —– of almost 40 fold —– that has taken place over the past decade. This increase has occurred with little oversight, and the result has been an increasing number of spills and explosions, the most tragic of which destroyed the scenic town of Lac-Mégantic, Quebec and killed 47 people. To add to this dangerous oil-by-rail onslaught in the region, an off-loading facility in Albany, New York, where all this oil is transported, has filed a permit application to be able to load dirtier tar sands oil onto barges. This would enable the heavy oil to be shipped to refineries in the Mid-Atlantic region and elsewhere that can process the thick, dirty tar sands oil.

3. With an increasing amount of tar sands oil reaching refineries in New Brunswick, Canada and the Gulf Coast, Suncor Energy Exxon more and more of this extremely carbon pollution intensive gasoline is ending up in the tanks of our cars —– gasoline that is up to 37% more polluting than regular gasoline on a well-to-wheel basis. This is a matter of significant concern because, up until recently, the region’s gasoline was virtually tar sands oil free and the Northeast is a substantial market that the tar sands oil industry wants to penetrate. Without action to keep tar sands oil derived fuel out of the region, the dirty fuel could be the source of up to 18% of the area’s transportation fuel source by 2020. Exxon controls ownership of the Portland-

2 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION Montreal Pipe Line. With avenues like Keystone XL stalled and likely to be denied, the industry is getting desperate to move its carbon polluting, land-locked tar sands oil to markets —– particularly abroad —– and make good on plans to greatly expand tar sands oil production in the coming years. This report, for the first time in one place, shows the Exxon-owned Portland Pipe Line Corporation’s true intentions to transport tar sands oil through the region, despite their public relations to the contrary:

u The tar sands industry spent approximately $750,000 to oppose and launch a misinformation campaign against a South Portland, Maine ballot initiative to protect the health of its citizens and character of its waterfront. The ballot initiative narrowly failed by less than two hundred votes.

u In a December, 2013 letter, the American Petroleum Institute then threatened the city with a lawsuit if the City Council passed a similar measure to protect the health and character of the city. The city council did not back down and passed the popular measure by a 6 to 1 vote.

u The Exxon-owned company made good on its threat to the City, filing suit to overturn the will of the South Portland residents and making its intent clear, stating in the suit that: “[the company’s] pipelines are currently underutilized due to market conditions that favor the transportation of oil south from Canada to the United States and other international markets,” and that South Portland’s ordinance “adversely affects PPLC’s ability to respond to market conditions.”

u The industry has admitted to its openness to transporting tar sands oil in testimony before the Vermont legislature.

u The tar sands oil industry has received approval for its plans to transport tar sands from Alberta to Montreal. Tar sands oil is literally at our region’s doorstep.

These actions demonstrate industry’s intent to move tar sands oil any way it can through Northern New England and New York so as to access markets and East Coast refineries, putting the sensitive habitat areas in the Lake Champlain region and Vermont in the crosshairs.

The Exxon-owned pipeline consists of two parallel, 236-mile pipelines that link Suncor Energy’s Montreal refinery with a crude oil terminal near the tanker port at South Portland, Maine.1

The Exxon-owned pipeline’s 18-inch diameter pipe (installed in 1950) has a capacity of 192,000 barrels per day (bpd), and its 24-inch diameter pipe (installed in 1965) has a capacity of 410,000 bpd.

The original 12-inch pipeline (installed in 1941) has been taken off-line.2

ERIC ORFF

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 3 FLICKR: JUANALBERTO10

The risks to the region are real and present. “Tar Sands at Our Doorstep” highlights the lessons learned from the horrible pipeline spills in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan and in Mayflower, Arkansas. These spills undeniably prove that tar sands oil is toxic and almost impossible to clean up when it spills. Five years after the Kalamazoo River spill, where about a million gallons of tar sands oil polluted a forty mile stretch of the river, oil still churns up despite over a billion dollars of cleanup efforts and multiple dredging attempts.

The tar sands oil spill in Arkansas resulted in the permanent displacement of over 20 families. The parallels between the Arkansas disaster and the pipeline in New England are stark. Both pipelines are Exxon-owned. Both pipelines are over sixty years old and were designed for conventional oil, not tar sands. Exxon-owned Portland Pipe Line Corporation has already testified that its pipeline’s useful life is 60 years —– an age the 64 year-old line has already passed. Adding alarm to the prospect of a pipeline reversal, the federal regulatory agency in charge of pipeline safety recently concluded that reversing a pipeline can impact the pipeline’s integrity.

Further, the report documents that the region is not prepared for a significant spill. Federal safety regulations for both pipeline and rail transport of oil have proven to be lacking and out-of-date.

4 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION Indeed, a major report by the National Transportation Safety Board following the Kalamazoo spill pointed to inadequate regulations as a factor leading to the disaster. A major spill into a remote river of northern Vermont or Lake Champlain would stretch the capacity of local responders, and many needed responders to a major disaster are, according to the pipeline company itself, located in Maine and Virginia.

Finally, the report makes critical recommendations to ensure that the region’s residents and policy makers are alerted to the serious risks posed by dirty tar sands oil. In particular, the report recommends: u The U.S. State Department needs to make clear that any tar sands oil pipeline project will undergo strict environmental and permitting review. u The carbon pollution impacts of enabling tar sands oil infrastructure must be evaluated and any project should be rejected if it significantly exacerbates the problem of carbon pollution —– the test President Obama has said will apply to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. u Federal safety measures for pipeline and oil transport need to be strengthened and updated. Until unsafe rail cars are banned, a moratorium should be placed on oil-by-rail transit in the region. u Applicable state review processes, like Vermont’s Act 250, must be applied to any project to provide the strictest review to protect the environment and wildlife. u Local governments need to be informed of the substantial risks, receive training and proper resources to respond to spills and other emergencies, and if such steps are not taken, the transport of these dangerous fuels should be halted. u Finally, the region needs to enact policies to keep tar sands oil out of the fuel market, such as a Carbon Pollution Tax, Clean Fuel Standard and similar measures. KRIS KRUG ERIC ENGBRETSON/USFWS

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 5 Introduction

RONALD NORMAN

along the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Unlike conventional oil, tar sands oil (or bitumen) is a viscous, carbon-intensive, asphalt-like substance that is mined and drilled from deposits in the evergreen forests and rich wetlands of Northern Alberta. When it spills —– which it inevitably does —– it is nearly impossible to clean the wetlands, streams, rivers and lakes that it fouls. After an energy-intensive, highly-polluting refining process, it is eventually burnt as gasoline, jet fuel and other transportation fuels.3

Major oil and pipeline companies, including interests owned by Exxon and other oil giants, are eager to ELAINE TURNER expand the market for tar sands oil. With other market ermont’s pristine Northeast Kingdom and the outlets for tar sands oil —– such as the Keystone XL Lake Champlain region are among America’s pipeline that would bring tar sands oil to the Gulf Coast Vmost beautiful places. They represent unique and the Canadian Northern Gateway pipeline proposed areas in the Northeast where people can experience to bring tar sands oil to ports in British Columbia —– unpopulated wild areas, working landscapes, and currently stymied by opposition, the Northeast offers countless opportunities for outdoor activities. These major, attractive new export, market and refinery regions also provide important habitat for countless opportunities for industry. wildlife species including moose, bear, lynx, fox and loon. As a result, industry is eyeing plans to bring tar sands oil However, these treasured resources are under threat through an Exxon-owned pipeline called the Portland- from a pernicious fossil fuel called tar sands oil. Tar Montreal Pipe Line that bisects Vermont’s Northeast sands oil is the type of oil that would be transported Kingdom and the Lake Champlain basin, and along the

6 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION western side of Lake Champlain in thin-walled rail cars. In fact, the industry is so desperate to clear the path for tar sands oil to transect the region that it recently sued the City of South Portland, Maine over an ordinance the City passed to protect the health of its citizens and the character of its waterfront against any major, polluting oil offloading facility.

It is critical for the health of people and wildlife in the Northeast that these plans for tar sands oil expansion do not come to fruition. Policies must be put in place that ultimately stop tar sands oil transport and use in the area and nationally. This report examines the troubling threat to the Lake Champlain region and Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom from tar sands oil. It then makes recommendations for how we can prevent tar sands oil expansion and instead promote energy solutions that are safe for people and wildlife.

Cleanup crews try to contain tar sands oil that spilled from an Exxon owned pipeline into a neighborhood and surrounding wetlands in Arkansas in 2013. The Arkansas

pipeline is a similar size and age to the pipeline in Vermont. GRANT/NWF MILES

FLICKR: MARTY DESILETS

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 7 What’s at Stake?

ALLAN WOOD PHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

ake Champlain is one of the largest freshwater threatened and endangered species such as the lake lakes in America outside of the Great Lakes. It is sturgeon, black tern, spotted turtle, Indiana bat and Lshared by Vermont, New York and the Province of karner blue butterfly.6 Quebec. Its immense watershed is over 8,000 square miles and stretches from the mile high peaks of the More than 600,000 people live in the Lake Champlain Adirondacks to the crest of the Green Mountains in basin and millions visit the basin each year to enjoy its 7 Vermont.4 beauty, history, wildlife and recreational opportunities. In 1997, more than $204 million was spent on fishing- The Lake is home to over 300 species of birds, such as related activities in the Lake Champlain region. The hooded mergansers, bald eagles and common loons, and Vermont Agency of Natural Resources estimates that over 80 species of fish, including large and small mouth bird and other wildlife viewing activities in the region bass, land-locked Atlantic salmon and several species of generate at least $50 million a year.8 The Lake also trout.5 The region is also home to state or federal supplies drinking water to about 200,000 people in the region.9

Similarly, Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom has attracted worldwide recognition for its beauty and pristine environment. Because of the region’s unique natural resources, the National Geographic Society named the Northeast Kingdom the most desirable place to visit in the United States and the ninth-most desirable place to visit in the world.10 The area features diverse wildlife, large undeveloped areas and vast woodlands. It contains over 200 lakes and ponds and numerous state parks, public lands, important wildlife management areas including the Victory Basin Wildlife Management Area and Willoughby State Forest. TODD POWELL TODD

8 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION The Victory Basin Wildlife Management Area is an “ecologically spectacular area” that includes the Victory Bog, a biologically rich lowland bog that is home to a number of rare bird species usually found in the evergreen forests of Canada, like the black-backed woodpecker and boreal chickadee.11

Willoughby State Forest is another jewel of the Northeast Kingdom that RYAN HAGERTY/USFWS RYAN represents its unique ecological and ESBENSEN ROBERT wildlife value. It is home to lakes and streams that contain rainbow trout, lake trout, brown trout, landlocked salmon and yellow perch.12 It also contains special and unique wildlife habitats, including a deer wintering area that is critical to the winter survival of the white-tailed deer.13 Twenty species of birds known to occur in Willoughby State Forest have been or are considered conservation priorities by the State of Vermont, including the common loon and olive-sided flycatcher.14 ERIC ENGBRETSON/USFWS FLICKR: WENDY JOHNSON FLICKR: WENDY

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 9 The Tar Sands Threat

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD

growing threat to Lake Champlain and Toxic Spills Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom looms. Oil Acompanies are targeting an existing, aging Tar sands oil behaves much differently than conventional pipeline to move tar sands oil from Canada’s Alberta crude oil when spilled. Once released, diluents —– light hydro- region through the heart of the Northeast Kingdom. carbons used to thin the bitumen (creating a substance called In February, 2015, the Exxon-owned pipeline owner diluted bitumen or dilbit) enough to make it flow —– evaporate Portland Pipe Line Corporation (PPLC) filed suit into the air creating toxic fumes. The heavy bitumen can against the City of South Portland, Maine seeking to then sink in water, coating river bottoms, smothering overturn that city’s effort to protect the character of aquatic life, and making cleanup very costly and difficult. its waterfront and the health of its citizens from the In July 2010, the rupture of an Enbridge Inc. pipeline (Line pollution associated with off-loading oil at its port. 6B) in Marshall, Michigan released nearly a million gallons The intent behind the lawsuit is to pave the way for of dilbit into the Kalamazoo River.16 Thousands of birds, tar sands oil to be brought from Canada to Maine, turtles and small mammals such as beavers were affected and then shipped to markets. by the spill, and many died. Portions of a forty-mile stretch At the same time, the oil industry is already using thinly of the Kalamazoo River are still polluted and will likely be walled train cars to transport explosive Bakken crude oil affected for decades. An estimated 160,000 gallons of (a lighter crude oil extracted by fracking) from North petroleum will remain in river sediment even after almost 17 Dakota to Albany, New York. There it is transferred to five years and $1 billion spent on cleanup efforts. barges destined for Atlantic ports. Five to nine trains —– each carrying a million gallons of crude oil —– are Deadly Explosions currently rolling along the banks of Lake Champlain Crude oil trains can also unleash tragic destruction. On July 6, every week.15 Given an industry attempt to upgrade an 2013, an unsecured train in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec rolled down off-loading facility in Albany to accommodate tar sands a descending grade, derailed, and released 1.6 million gallons oil, these trains are likely to begin carrying increasing of Bakken crude from its cars. The Bakken Crude, much more amounts of tar sands oil if the facilities needed to volatile than conventional crude oil, caught fire and fueled offload it are approved for the Port of Albany. explosions that left 47 dead and destroyed the town.18

10 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION These recent tragedies demonstrate the extreme threats and ticks, and harm cold water fisheries like trout.24 that increased oil transport poses to Lake Champlain and the surrounding region. They have also exposed Refined tar sands oil entering the region also poses a significant weaknesses in federal oversight of pipeline direct threat to the Northeast’s progress in confronting and rail carriers transporting oil. the causes of climate change. If efforts to keep tar sands oil products out of the region are not successful, it is likely Climate Change that tar sands oil could be the source of up to 18% of the Northeast region’s transportation fuel mix by 2020.25 This Tar sands oil is far more carbon-polluting than conventional would represent a dramatic increase from the under 1% fossil fuels, with up to a 37% higher greenhouse gas life- that made up the region’s fuel source in 2012, wiping out cycle footprint than regular oil.19 The tar sands oil industry most of the gains the region has achieved through currently plans a massive expansion of their mining and forward-thinking carbon reduction programs like the export operations, provided they are able to transport Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI is their product to market. Proposed new transport projects credited with significantly reducing carbon pollution from are key to the development of tar sands oil, which will the region’s power sector.26 Refined tar sands oil could practically guarantee run-away climate change.20 enter Vermont and the area’s fuel mix not only via the Exxon-owned pipeline (which would likely send crude to a The Lake Champlain region and Northeast Kingdom have refinery in New Brunswick that supplies much of the already seen the harsh impacts of climate change, such as region’s transportation fuel) and rail moving along Lake warming waters, increased flooding, decreased ice cover Champlain, but also from projects like the Keystone XL and burgeoning algal blooms.21 Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, pipeline and pipeline expansion plans in the Great Lakes which caused over $800 million in damage to Vermont region. These pipeline projects will result in more tar when more than 7 inches of rain triggered the worst sands oil refined product being delivered to Vermont and flooding in the state since 1927, was a stark example of the the Northeast from refineries in the Gulf Coast.27 type of extreme event climate change can deliver.22 More chronic impacts like algal blooms make recreation in Lake Threats from oil spills, explosions and climate change will Champlain dangerous, smelly and unpleasant, and can also intensify if the tar sands oil industry continues to expand. cause fish and wildlife dead zones.23 Among other harms to The industry is clearly seeking to send even more tar wildlife, changes in precipitation, temperature and ice cover sands oil into the Northeast region’s growing markets and can disrupt fish spawning, interfere with the breeding cycle to our strategically located ports where it can move its of migratory waterfowl, favor pest species like mosquitos product abroad and receive top prices.

Tar sands oil has up to a 37% higher carbon footprint than regular oil.

DAVID JUARIE

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 11 Tar Sands Oil at Our Doorstep

THE PLAN TO PUMP TAR SANDS THROUGH EASTERN CANADA AND NEW ENGLAND

The original 2008 proposal is composed of the Portland-Montreal Pipe Line and the Enbridge Line 9

Portland-Montreal Pipeline Enbridge Line 9 Pipelines from the Tar Sands Region

The Portland-Montreal Pipe Line Industry has expressed its desire to move dangerous tar sands oil through Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine via a more than 60-year-old Exxon-owned pipeline, but has thus far been held at bay by concerned citizens and communities. In Vermont, this pipeline’s route includes the towns of Jay, Troy, Newport, Irasburg, Barton, Sutton, Burke, Victory, Guildhall, Granby and Lunenburg. Along the way, the Exxon-owned pipeline passes through important natural and cultural areas like the Northeast CONNECTICUT RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION RIVER WATERSHED CONNECTICUT Kingdom, the Connecticut River and Victory Bog. permit or environmental review,28 this project was The Exxon-owned pipeline was originally built to carry oil temporarily shelved due to the economic downturn in from the Atlantic port in South Portland, Maine up to 2009. However, as pressure to move tar sands oil to Canada. In 2008, Enbridge, Inc. and the PPLC proposed market started to pick up, Enbridge recommenced its a plan to move tar sands oil through Canada’s Alberta efforts to pursue the Canadian portion of the project in Region down to Portland in order to have shipping 2011,29 a proposal that will bring tar sands oil to access to send tar sands oil abroad and to coastal Vermont’s doorstep. refineries. This proposal included reversing the Exxon- owned pipeline and a 125-mile stretch of pipeline, known Enbridge’s plan to reverse Line 9 set New Englanders as Enbridge Line 9, from Sarnia, Ontario to Montreal. into action. Since Enbridge made its intentions known, 52 towns and cities in New England, including many After a behind-the-scenes approval by the U.S. State along or bordering the pipeline route, have passed Department, which concluded that such a reversal and resolutions stating that they do not want tar sands oil conversion to tar sands oil use did not require a new in their communities.

12 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION Suncor Energy Exxon The PMPL is owned by Montreal Pipe Line Limited (MPL). Exxon subsidiary Imperial Oil Ltd. and Imperials’s wholly-owned subsidiary, McColl-Frontenac own 76% of MPL, meaning that Exxon controls three-quarters of the ownership of the PMPL. The remaining 24% is held by Suncor Energy, a major player in the tar sands oil business. In the U.S., the pipeline is operated by a wholly-owned subsidiary of MPL called Portland Pipe Line Corporation (PPLC).30

Up to 1.4 million barrels per day of tar sands oil could soon be headed to Vermont’s doorstep. MOLLIE MATTESON Victory Basin Wildlife Management Area provides unique habitat in the pristine Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 13 In addition, all of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine’s reversal.35 Completion of the Line 9 reversal is now likely congressional delegation and the Governors of Vermont imminent, bringing tar sands oil to Vermont’s doorstep. and New Hampshire have gone on record opposing or Also, TransCanada, the same company pushing for raising concerns about a tar sands oil pipeline project Keystone XL, is proposing another tar sands oil pipeline through the region. Vermont, in response to a citizens’ project called Energy East that will bring 1.1 million petition, ruled that any pipeline project would be subject barrels per day of tar sands oil to Montreal36 in addition to review under Vermont’s land law protection law, Act to the up to 300,000 barrels per day tar sands oil that 250.31 New Hampshire also passed new laws enhancing could arrive via Line 9. the state’s ability to respond to a spill on the pipeline.32 Industry seeks to move this oil to foreign markets. In November, 2013, citizens in South Portland, Maine Tar sands oil is expensive to extract and its profitability placed a resolution on the city’s ballot to prohibit the is hit hard by low gas prices, making expansion plans off-loading of crude and the construction of the massive dependent on cheap infrastructure.37 Given that it is structures PPLC had already proposed to build in order an underutilized and existing pipe, the Exxon-owned to combust the toxic fumes that would result from tar pipeline provides an attractive option to move up to sands oil off-loading. After spending approximately 600,000 barrels per day of tar sands oil to port. $750,000 in the final weeks before the vote, oil industry efforts to confuse voters about the impacts of the In the company’s aggressive lawsuit to overturn the proposed ordinance led to the measure’s defeat by less protective ordinance passed by the City of South than 200 votes.33 Portland, Maine, PPLC claims that its “pipelines are currently underutilized due to market conditions that However, it was obvious that South Portland residents favor the transportation of oil south from Canada to did not want the health effects and massive, polluting the United States and other international markets.” waterfront structures that would be associated with tar PPLC further alleges that South Portland’s ordinance sands oil offloading in their community. As such, the “adversely affects PPLC’s ability to respond to market South Portland City Council voted 6-1 to pass the Clear conditions.”38 This plainly reveals that previous claims Skies Ordinance that effectively prohibits PPLC of being a good neighbor take a back seat to profit. from constructing the infrastructure necessary to Furthermore, while the PPLC has continued to deny that industrialize South Portland’s waterfront and offload they have any active reversal project, in response to tar sands oil from the Exxon-owned pipeline.34 repeated questioning by state lawmakers and other officials, then PPLC President Larry Wilson has admitted In March, 2014, Enbridge received approval from that moving tar sands oil was something the company Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) for Line 9 would consider.39

Citizens from around New England gathered in Portland, Maine to protest tar sands oil transport and use in the region. JIM MURPHY

14 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION The Risks of a Tar Sands Oil Spill to Vermont

ARDEA HERODIAS/USFWS

ar sands oil spills have already occurred with disastrous results to wildlife and communities. TThe tar sands oil pipeline spill into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River in July, 2010 showed what happens when heavy tar sands oil spills in a marsh, stream or river. This spill happened when Enbridge Line 6B, which connects to Enbridge Line 9, split open near Marshall, Michigan and more than one million gallons of tar sands oil gushed out through a six-and-a-half-foot gash in the pipeline. The spill ultimately contaminated roughly 40 miles of the Kalamazoo River.40 It also caused families and businesses to evacuate, and many of those who evacuated reported a host of medical problems, from headaches to vomiting to rashes.41

The Enbridge tar sands oil spill at Kalamazoo was the MICHIGAN DEQ MICHIGAN largest inland oil pipeline spill in U.S. history.42 According to the National Transportation Safety Board, it was the substance spilled was tar sands oil. It coated marsh result of inadequate federal oversight and human error, grasses, great blue herons, turtles and other wildlife. including the fact that it took Enbridge 17 hours to About one-quarter of the birds died and the fate of small realize the line had burst.43 A shocking 81% of the oil mammals, like beavers, was even worse: about 63.5% spilled was pumped after the line had burst.44 died.46 What didn’t coat flora and fauna above the water, sank to the bottom. Officials evaluating impacts one year Cleanup has cost Enbridge an estimated $1 billion45 after the spill worried that the spill had harmed fish eggs and a key reason for the incident’s high cost is that the and the main diet for fish, tiny midges and flies.47

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 15 The Exxon-owned, 18-inch pipeline is nearly a quarter experienced multiple health issues, and increased levels century older than Enbridge’s then 41-year-old pipeline of benzene were found in the air following the spill.51 (Line 6B) that ruptured in Marshall, Michigan. The 24- inch line is eight years older than Line 6B. While PPLC’s Like the Exxon-owned pipeline, the aging Pegasus Director of Operations characterized the Exxon-owned pipeline had to be reversed for tar sands oil transport. pipeline’s lifespan as “endless” in a presentation to New Since the tragic Mayflower spill, the federal Pipeline and Hampshire legislators,48 in the course of a Gorham, New Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Hampshire tax appeal prior to public controversy over which oversees onshore pipeline safety and operations, tar sands oil, PPLC testified that the pipeline has a has concluded that flow reversal has the potential to useable life of 60 years (in 1994) and, more recently, increase the risk of pipeline failure.52 It states that “[a] 78 years.49 change in the direction of flow can affect the hydraulic and stress demands on the pipeline.”53 The age of the Exxon-owned pipeline should provide cause for worry. In March of 2013, another Exxon-owned Reversing the Exxon-owned pipeline and using this pipeline burst, sending tar sands oil gushing through aging pipeline for tar sands oil transport would put the streets of a quiet, residential neighborhood not far Vermont’s pristine Northeast Kingdom and Lake from the Arkansas capital of Little Rock. Before it burst, Champlain at serious risk of a tar sands oil spill. A spill the 65-year-old Pegasus pipeline —– which is roughly the like the one in Marshall, Michigan could kill countless age and size of the Exxon-owned 18-inch pipeline —– wildlife and cause permanent damage to some of carried 95,000 barrels per day of tar sands oil from Vermont’s most unspoiled habitat. It could cause severe Patoka, Illinois to Nederland, Texas crossing a large damage to the Connecticut River, the Missisquoi River, a piece of southwestern Illinois.50 As in Marshall, major tributary of Lake Champlain and a river under Michigan, people living near the tar sands oil spill site consideration to be Vermont’s first federally designated

63.5% of small mammals impacted by the 2010 Kalamazoo River tar sands oil spill died.

JACKSON SANDOW JR.

16 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION MICHIGAN DEQ MICHIGAN

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION NATIONAL

The spill response plan for PMPL gives little cause for comfort.

The equipment identified in PPLC’s plan is located mostly in Portland and Bangor, Maine, which is roughly 2.75 hours driving time from Guildhall, Vermont and four hours from Jay, Vermont. In the event of a Worst Case Discharge, much of the response equipment identified in PPLC’s plan would be coming from even greater distances —– as far away as Virginia. Meanwhile, PPLC has a limited amount of company-owned equipment prepositioned locally at its pump stations for initial response. These measures leave significant doubt that PPLC would be able to respond to a spill in a timely and effective matter.

Wild and Scenic River, several other rivers in being unresponsive to citizen needs, PHSMA Vermont, as well as sensitive and unique habitat recently denied a petition filed by over 60 areas like Victory Bog. organizations, current and former state officials and impacted landowners to revise these Recent catastrophic pipeline failures such as the regulations to better account for the risks of tar Marshall, Michigan and Mayflower, Arkansas spills sands oil.56 have exposed substantial weaknesses in federal regulatory oversight that have yet to be fixed.54 It is also impossible for the public to perform an Federal pipeline safety regulators give effective independent evaluation of the Exxon- tremendous discretion to pipeline operators owned pipeline’s spill response plan because in preparing oil spill response plans and there federal law protects much of the information is little public oversight or accountability. from disclosure. Until 2012, when a new federal law required disclosure of plans, absolutely no Inadequate spill response planning and information about spill response was publicly regulation were cited by the National available. Unfortunately, details deemed by Transportation Safety Board as a major factor PHMSA to be proprietary or security-sensitive in the tar sands oil spill in Marshall, Michigan.55 are still redacted from the plans released to In unfortunate keeping with its reputation as the public.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 17 Oil–By–Rail: A Direct Threat to Lake Champlain

FLICKR: BOSTONTX

ach week, as much as 44 million gallons of crude as “biblical.”62 One car careened into the Kanawha moves by rail through upstate New York on trains River, temporarily shutting off the water supply for Ecarrying a million gallons in as many as 120 cars dependent nearby residents.63 Had a significant amount each. Five to nine of these trains travel along the of oil entered in the river, it could have contaminated western shore of Lake Champlain weekly.57 This increase Cincinnati’s water supply downstream.64 in rail follows a dramatic upturn in movement of oil by rail fueled largely by the North Dakota oil boom in the The February, 2015 spill in Ontario shattered the Bakken fields. For example, in 2009, only 10,800 previous belief that tar sands oil did not have the same carloads of crude oil moved through the country. By explosive qualities as highly explosive Bakken crude. 2013, that number had increased to over 400,000 When the Canadian National Railways train carrying carloads.58 This trend is generally alarming, as PHMSA diluted bitumen from the tar sands oil in Alberta has warned that “the potential for a train accident derailed in northern Ontario, seven trains caught fire involving crude oil has increased, which has raised the and spilled some 6,000 barrels of oil (252,000 gallons). likelihood of a catastrophic train accident that would The fire burnt for six days in extremely cold weather.65 cause substantial damage to life, property, and the Because diluted bitumen shipped by train can be almost environment.”59 30% diluent, which is often light, easily ignitable hydro- carbons, tar sands oil by train can present explosion Oil-by-rail poses huge risks of spills and explosions. risks similar to Bakken crude, the fuel responsible for There were 117 crude-by-rail spills in the U.S. alone in incinerating Lac-Mégantic.66 2013, a near tenfold rise over 2008.60 In addition to the horrible disaster in Lac-Mégantic, over the last several While most oil being moved by rail is currently fracked months, we have seen several oil train accidents, oil from the Bakken oil fields in and around North including multiple car explosions in West Virginia and Dakota, industry is seeking diversity of transport and Ontario.61 Fortunately, none of these accidents resulted access to refineries in the Mid-Atlantic via the Port of in fatalities, but the West Virginia explosion resulted in Albany that have the capacity to refine the extra dirty many cars exploding in a manner witnesses described and heavy tar sands oil.”67 The risk of increased tar

18 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION sands oil transport is evident by the fact that Global crude comes from isn’t necessarily the focus. It’s Partners, which operates an oil terminal at the Port of making sure there is flexibility in the system to take Albany, is seeking to revise its existing Clean Air Act various types of crude.”71 permit to allow it to heat crude oil.68 This strongly indicates the company’s interest in receiving tar sands Global’s effort is being challenged by a coalition of oil at the facility because, unlike lighter Bakken crude, local community and environmental organizations. tar sands oil must be heated in cold temperatures in Environmental Advocates of New York has been order to be pumped. This effort appears to be aimed at among groups leading the charge in the fight against giving industry the option to transport more tar sands this permitting effort along with Earthjustice, Natural oil along the western side of the Lake and into Albany.69 Resources Defense Council, Riverkeeper and Sierra Club. In June, 2014, the County of Albany placed a Much like the Exxon-owned pipeline, Global has been moratorium on crude oil port expansion until the careful to neither confirm nor deny plans to move tar health impacts associated with the possibility of tar sands oil through Albany. The company’s permit sands oil coming into the Albany area are properly application does not specify whether the facility examined.72 intends to handle tar sands oil, calling that a “very generic term” in a letter to New York’s Department The drastic increase in oil-by-rail transport along of Environmental Conservation.70 Lake Champlain poses unacceptable risks to the Lake and the communities nearby. The Lake, which is the Eric Slifka, Global’s Chief Executive, claims the heating subject of a proposed historic cleanup plan and serves units are needed to accommodate “types of U.S. and as a crown jewel of the region, and any impacted Canadian crudes that would require heat to be put to communities would be forever scarred by a major them because of the viscosity,” and that “where the oil rail car accident along its banks.

Like pipelines, federal oversight of rail is lax.

Nearly two-thirds of our nation’s crude oil tank car fleet is comprised of cars that “can almost always be expected to breach in the event of a train accident, resulting in car-to-car impacts or pileups.” Recently released federal regulations would allow these dangerous cars, known as DOT-111 cars, to be used for crude oil transport through 2020.73 These cars have been referred to as Pepsi cans on wheels.74

In 2011, PHMSA and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued specifications for an “enhanced DOT-111” car that increased the cars’ required shell thickness, provided for head shields, and made other modifications intended to improve the crashworthiness of the tank cars. Still, by the end of 2015, it is estimated that only 60% of the nation’s crude oil tank car fleet will meet the “enhanced DOT-111” standard.75 DESLYNE COPENING DESLYNE

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 19 As seen in the Lac-Mégantic spill, the impacts of a crude train spill can be catastrophic.

However, there are even less spill response derailment. New York’s Department of planning requirements for rail carriers than Transportation recently launched rail inspection pipeline operators. For instance, most railroad “blitzes” focused on “tracks, track hardware, companies transporting oil almost never have and tank car mechanical safety equipment, to file more protective comprehensive oil including wheels and brakes.”79 These response plans.76 Instead, most —– if not all —– inspections found 740 track and rail equipment rail carriers transporting oil are subject only to defects that were corrected by the railroads.80 a basic response plan requirement.77 Unlike a comprehensive spill response plan, a basic plan According to PHMSA, “Broken rails or welds, is not required to ensure the availability of spill track geometry, and human factors such as response personnel and equipment, include improper use of switches are leading causes of training and drills or receive approval by the derailments. For example, one study found that Federal Railroad Administration.78 broken rails or welds resulted in approximately 670 derailments between 2001 and 2010, which Rail tracks and equipment appear to be rife far exceeded the average of 89 derailments for with defects, which pose risk for crashes and all other causes.”81 THE CANADIAN PRESS, PAUL CHIASSON PAUL PRESS, THE CANADIAN Downtown Lac-Mégantic after rail cars loaded with oil slammed into the town and exploded, killing 47 people.

20 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION Policy Recommendations

FLICKR: PUTNEYPICS

he climate crisis requires serious efforts to changes to reduce our energy use and simultaneously reduce carbon pollution and transition from dirty lower our energy bills. Tfossil fuels to clean energy resources such as geothermal, wind, solar, sustainable bioenergy and We can and must build an energy future that protects efficient transportation technologies. We can also make wildlife, communities and the many treasures of the Lake Champlain region, rather than putting these resources in harm’s way with dangerous transport and use of tar sands oil.

To protect our wildlife, resources, communities and our economy from the dangers of tar sands oil, we call on our state and federal leaders to:

Stop Any Tar Sands Oil Pipeline Project in New England:

Specific actions needed to prevent the flow of tar sands oil through Vermont include:

u The State Department should make clear that it will conduct a thorough public environmental review and require a new permit for any proposal to NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION NATIONAL Citizens and activists visit the U.S. State Department to reverse flow or pump tar sands oil through the ask State Department officials to protect the region from Exxon-owned pipeline that bisects Vermont’s the dangers of tar sands oil. Northeast Kingdom on its way to Portland, Maine.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 21 u The State Department should consider the resources along the route are threatened by tar comprehensive impact of the multiple tar sands oil sands oil and the route is inappropriate for tar sands pipeline projects the industry is contemplating, oil, or if it is found that a proposed project will add to including the Exxon-owned pipeline, the Alberta Clipper harmful climate pollution that threatens the state’s pipeline in the Great Lakes’ region and the Keystone XL environment. pipeline. Taken together, these lines will have a substantial impact on the industry’s ability to expand Require Stringent Safety tar sands oil and create more climate disrupting Standards for all Pipeline and pollution and spill risks. Rail Projects President Obama and future Administrations should u President Obama and future Administrations should consistently evaluate the climate impacts of all tar u utilize existing regulatory authority to require the sands oil pipelines, and reject them if they are found best technology and safest methods for transporting to significantly exacerbate the problem of carbon tar sands oil. The Administration must update old, pollution, as President Obama has committed to industry-friendly pipeline safety and rail regulations doing with Keystone XL.82 that unnecessarily place wildlife and communities at risk. u Tar sands oil infrastructure decisions should be made in a manner that advances and is consistent with The U.S Department of Transportation should place a federal, state, regional, local and other carbon u moratorium on oil-by-rail transit in the region until pollution reduction goals. unsafe rail cars are taken off the tracks.

Vermont should vigorously review any proposed tar u As a complement to the aforementioned policies, but sands oil pipeline project under Act 250 (Vermont’s u not a replacement for them, states should use the land use law), and deny any permit application for a authority granted to them by the federal Clean Water plan to move tar sands oil through the Northeast Act (CWA) and Oil Pollution Act (OPA) to implement Kingdom if a thorough review finds that the state-level spill preparedness requirements that

MOLLIE MATTESON

22 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION VERMONT NATURAL RESOURCES COUNCIL Vermont Winter Olympians express concern over how climate change is impacting winter sports and the dangers of bringing carbon polluting tar sands oil to Vermont.

exceed those of federal regulations. Additionally, Enact Policies to Reduce Our all parties who bring oil in and through New York Reliance on Fossil Fuels: and Vermont should be required to provide financial security in the form of insurance, credit u Vermont, New York and other states in the or bond at a level sufficient to cover all cleanup region should put in place policies, such as a and decontamination costs associated with any Clean Fuel Standard, Carbon Pollution Tax and spill or accident. other initiatives to reduce reliance on dirty fossil fuels and speed the transition to clean, u Local governments need to be informed of the renewable sources of energy that protect substantial risks of tar sands oil spill, receive wildlife and people. training and proper resources to respond to spills and other emergencies, and, if such steps are not taken, the transport of these dangerous fuels should be halted.

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 23 21. Lake Champlain Basin Program. 2015. Climate Change Impacts. Endnotes Available at: http://www.lcbp.org/water-environment/climate- change/climate-change-impacts/. 1. See Portland Pipe Line Corporation, About Us, http://www.pmpl.com/about-us/. 22. Christopher McGrory Klyza and Stephen C. Trombulak, The Story of Vermont: A Natural and Cultural History, Second Edition, 206, 2. PPLC Presentation, June 18, 2009, 4; and Colin Nickerson, Portland University Press of New England (2015). Pipeline at Center of Fierce Fight in Maine, Boston Globe, Apr. 21, 2013. Available at: http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/04/20/after- 23. NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Sept. 3, quiet-years-portland-pipeline-thrust-into-fierce-energy-environmental- 2014. What Is A Dead Zone? Available at: debate/iRgZIWT5lW9EVbCIQ9FvvJ/story.html. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html; see http://www.lcbp.org/water-environment/climate-change/climate- 3. For a general description of the process and impacts of tar sands oil change-impacts/. extraction, see e.g., R. Kunzing. March 2009. The Canadian Oil Boom., National Geographic. Available at: 24. Lake Champlain Basin Program. 2015. Climate Change Impacts. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/03/canadian-oil- sands/kunzig-text/1 (accessed August 4, 2014); For facts related to 25. Natural Resources Defense Council. 2014. What’s in Your Tank?. end-uses for tar sands oil, see e.g., Lattanzio, R. March 10, 2014. Available at: http://www.nrdc.org/energy/files/tar-sands-northeast- Canadian Oil Sands: Life-Cycle Assessments of Greenhouse Gas midatlantic-IB.pdf. Emissions. U.S. Congressional Research Service, Washington, D.C.:3. 26. Ibid. Available at: http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42537.pdf. 27. See ibid. 4. Lake Champlain Land Trust. 2015. Lake Champlain Facts. Available at: http://www.lclt.org/about-lake-champlain/lake-champlain-facts/. 28. Letter from Stephen J. Gallogly, Director, Office of International Energy and Commodities, U.S. Dep’t of State to David H. Coburn, Esq., 5. Lake Champlain Land Trust. 2015; Lake Champlain Basin Program. and Sara Beth Watson, Esq., Steptoe & Johnson, LLP (July 18, 2008) 2015. Fish and Wildlife. Available at: http://www.lcbp.org/water- (letter on file with NWF). environment/ecosystem-healt/fish-and-wildlife/. 29. Rowland J. Harrison, Q.C., Enbridge Line 9 Reversal, Energy 6. Lake Champlain Basin Program. 2013. Endangered and Threatened Regulation Quarterly (Jul. 2014). Available at: Animals of the Lake Champlain Basin. Available at: http://www.energyregulationquarterly.ca/case-comments/enbridge- http://www.lcbp.org/wp- line-9-reversal#sthash.gjXYmXyJ.dpbs. content/uploads/2012/08/EndangeredList2013.pdf. 30. http://www.nrcm.org/documents/Exxontarsandspipeline.pdf; PPLC and 7. Lake Champlain Basin Program. 2015. A Vibrant Region. Available at: PML have reported that Shell also owns a portion of the pipeline, but http://www.lcbp.org/about-the-basin/description/. such ownership is not evident from PPLC filings. See, Portland Pipe 8. Lake Champlain Basin Program. 2015. Fish and Wildlife. Available at: Line Corp. and Montreal Pipe Line Ltd., INTEGRATED CONTINGENCY http://www.lcbp.org/water-environment/ecosystem-healt/fish-and- PLAN 1-13 (Dec. 2013)(hereinafter “PMPL Spill Response Plan”). wildlife/. 31. Vermont Legislature. 2013. Bill S.58. Available at: 9. Lake Champlain Land Trust. 2015. http://legislature.vermont.gov/assets/Documents/2014/Docs/BILLS/S- 0058/S-0058%20As%20Passed%20by%20the%20Senate.pdf. 10. Portal to the Northeast Kingdom and Island Pond, Vermont, Island Pond Vermont, http://www.islandpond.com. 32. Sheridan Brown. 2014. New Hamphire’s New Oil Pipeline Inspection and Spill Response Laws. Pipeline Safety Trust Annual Conference. 11. See Watershed Management Division, Vermont Department of Available at: http://pstrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/S.- Environmental Conservation, Water Quality and Aquatic Habitat Brown_PST-Presentation.pdf. Assessment Report, Passumpsic River Watershed 42 (June 2009). Available at: http://www.islandpond.com/boat/bird/. 33. Matt Byrne. November 5, 2013. South Portland Voters Reject Ordinance Targeting Tar Sands Oil. Portland Press Herald. Available at: 12. Lake Willoughby — Westmore, Vermont, Vermonter.com, http://www.pressherald.com/2013/11/05/south_portland_voters_strea http://www.vermonter.com/nek/willoughby.asp. m_to_polls_to_decide_tar-sands_question/. 13. Vermont Agency of Natural Res., Willoughby State Forest Long-Range 34. South Portland City Council. July 1, 2014. South Portland Clear Skies Management Plan 76 (2004). Available at: Ordinance. Available at: http://www.vtfpr.org/lands/willoughby/wilplan.pdf. http://www.southportland.org/files/4314/0439/7333/DOC_Recommme ndations_Parts_1-4_07-01-14.pdf. 14. Ibid. at 80-1. 35. National Energy Board. Updated February 6, 2015. Enbridge Pipelines 15. Mary Esch, Railroads Say Up to 44 Oil Trains Weekly Cross NY, Inc. – Line 9B Reversal and Line 9 Capacity Expansion Project. Associated Press, July 16, 2014. Available at: Available at: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/15/railroads-say-up- https://www.neb-one.gc.ca/pplctnflng/mjrpp/ln9brvrsl/index-eng.html. to-44-oil-trains-weekly-cross-ny/. 36. TransCanada, Energy East Pipeline, http://www.energyeastpipeline.com/. 16. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), July 14, 2014. EPA Response to Enbridge Spill in Michigan. .U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 37. See Ian Austen, Lower Oil Prices Strike at Heart of Canada’s Oil Sands Washington, D.C. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/enbridgespill/. Production, New York Times (Feb. 2, 2015). Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/business/energy- 17. Environmental Protection Agency, Oil Cleanup Continues On environment/lower-oil-prices-strike-at-heart-of-oil-sands-production.ht Kalamazoo River Enbridge Oil Spill: Marshall, Michigan, June 24, 2013. ml?_r=0. Available at: http://www.epa.gov/enbridgespill/pdfs/enbridge-fs- 20130624.pdf. 38. COMPLAINT FROM PPLC v. SOUTH PORTLAND. United State District Court District of Maine. 2014. Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive 18. Jake Edmiston and Andrew Barr, Mike Faille, Jonathan Rivait, Richard Relief. ¶¶ 23 and 24. Available at: Johnson. August 7, 2014. The Lac-Mégantic Railway Disaster — The http://www.southportland.org/files/3214/2593/3641/Clear_Skies_laws Night a Train Destroyed a Town. National Post. Available at: uit_document.pdf (accessed Mar. 25, 2015). http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/07/12/graphic-the-lac-megantic- runaway-train-disaster/. 39. John Dillon and Amy Noyes. February 18, 2013. Oil Exec Says Line Could Be Used for Tar Sands. Vermont Public Radio. Available at: 19. Natural Resources Defense Council. November 2010. Setting the http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/97527/oil-exec-says-line-could-be- Record Straight: Lifecycle Emissions of Tar Sands. Available at: used-for-tar-sands/. http://docs.nrdc.org/energy/files/ene_10110501a.pdf. 40. Elisa McGowen, Lisa Song, Inside Climate News, The Dilbit Disaster: 20. Oil Change International et al., Now More Than Ever The Proposed Inside the Biggest Oil Spill You’ve Never Heard of, Part One, June 26, Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Fails the “Presidential Climate Test.” 2012. Available at: http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120626/dilbit- Available at: diluted-bitumen-enbridge-kalamazoo-river-marshall-michigan-oil-spill- http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2014/12/KeystoneFailsClimateTes 6b-pipeline-epa. t1217.pdf

24 NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 41. Michigan Department of Community Health, Acute Health Effects of 62. Joby Warrick, Trains are carrying – and spilling – a record amount of the Enbridge Oil Spill, December 20, 2010. Available at: oil, Washington Post (Feb. 17,.2015). Available at: http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mdch/enbridge_oil_spill_epi_re http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy- port_with_cover_11_22_10_339101_7.pdf. environment/wp/2015/02/17/trains-are-carrying-and-spilling-a-record -amount-of-oil/. 42. David Hasemyer, Inside Climate News, Enbridge Dilbit Spill Still Not Cleaned Up as 2013 Closes, Irritating the EPA, December 32, 2013. 63. Andy Rowell, State of Emergency in West Virginia After Latest Crude Available at: http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20131223/enbridge- by Rail Disaster, Oil Change International (Feb. 16, 2015). Available at: dilbit-spill-still-not-cleaned-2013-closes-irritating-epa. http://priceofoil.org/2015/02/16/state-emergency-west-virginia- latest-crude-rail-disaster/. 43. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). 2012. Annual Report to Congress. Available at: 64. WCPO. February 17, 2015. Train Explosion, Spill Could Bring Crude Oil http://www.ntsb.gov/about/Documents/2012_Annual_Report.pdf. to Cincinnati Water. Available at: http://www.wcpo.com/news/local- news/hamilton-county/cincinnati/train-explosion-spill-could-bring-cru 44. Ibid. de-oil-to-cincinnati-water (accessed 3/24/2015); Alter, Maxim. 45. Ibid. February 19, 2015. West Virginia Train Explosion, Crude Oil Spill Not Expected to Impact Cincinnati Water. WCPO. Available at: 46. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Statement of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife http://www.wcpo.com/news/local-news/hamilton- Service, Department of the Interior, on the Enbridge Pipeline Oil Spill county/cincinnati/west-virginia-train-explosion-crude-oil-spill-not-exp Near Marshall, Michigan, before the House Committee on ected-to-impact-cincinnati-water. Transportation and Infrastructure, Sept. 15, 2010. Available at: http://www.fws.gov/midwest/oilspill/documents/statement.pdf. 65. Andy Rowell. Supra. Mar. 2, 2015. 47. Ibid. 66. Andy Rowell, Transporting Tar Sands “As Dangerous” As Shale Oil, Oil Change International (Mar. 2, 2015). Available at: 48. Tom Hardison, PPLC Director of Operations and Maintenance, http://priceofoil.org/2015/03/02/transporting-tar-sands-dangerous- Statement at NH House of Reps Informational Briefing, Feb. 11, 2014. shale-oil/. 49. See PPLC v. Gorham, Order, No. 93-E-76, Aug. 12, 1994, at 11 (Coos 67. Andy Rowell. March 11, 2015. Canadian Government “Concerned” Super. Ct.) and Consol. Hr’g Tr., supra note 31 at 308. After 2nd Tar Sands Train Explodes. Oil Change International. Available at: http://priceofoil.org/2015/03/11/canadian-government- 50. Only the southern portion of the Pegasus pipeline had been re- concerned-2nd-tar-sands-train-explodes/. opened. Associated Press, ExxonMobil restarts Pegasus pipeline in Texas, July 30, 2014. Available at: 68. Brian Nearing, Port Oil Heating Plant Meeting, Times Union, Nov. 13, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/30/exxonmobil- 2014. restarts-pegasus-pipeline-in-texas/. 69. Ibid. 51. Lisa Song, “What Sickens People in Oil Spills, and How Badly, Is Anybody’s Guess,” InsideClimateNews, June 18, 2013. Available at: 70. Dean S. Sommer, Letter to DEC With Responses to March Request at http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20130618/what-sickens-people- 29. (May 15, 2014) oil-spills-and-how-badly-anybodys-guess. 71. Jad Mouawad, Bakken Crude, Rolling Through Albany, New York 52. Pipeline Safety: Guidance for Pipeline Flow Reversals, Product Times, February 27, 2014. Available at: Changes and Conversion to Service, 79 Fed. Reg. 56,121, 56,122 (Sept. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/business/energy- 18, 2014)(Docket No. PHMSA-2014-0040). environment/bakkan-crude-rolling-through-albany.html?_r=0. 53. ExxonMobil Pipeline Co., PHMSA Corrective Action Order 4-2013- 72. Joanna M. Foster. March 13, 2014. Albany Places Moratorium on 5006H at 2 (Mayflower, AR pipeline spill). Crude Port Expansion. Climate Progress. Available at: http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/13/3402491/albany-oil- 54. NTSB. 2012. expansion-plan-moratorium/. 55. NTSB. 2012. 73. Hazardous Materials: Enhanced Tank Car Standards and Operational Controls for High-Hazard Flammable Trains, Final Rule (May 1, 2015). 56. Letter from Jeffrey D. Wiese, Associate Administrator for Pipeline Available at: Safety, Dep’t of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials http://www.dot.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/docs/final-rule-flammable- Safety Administration to James G. Murphy, Senior Counsel, National liquids-by-rail_0.pdf. Wildlife Federation et al. (Dec. 3, 2014) (letter on file with NWF). 74. Bobby Kerlik, Oil Tanker Critics Warn of Trouble on the Tracks, 57. Mary Esch, Railroads Say Up to 44 Oil Trains Weekly Cross NY, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Apr. 26, 2014. Available at: Associated Press, July 16, 2014. Available at: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/5971477-74/oil-crude- http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/15/railroads-say-up- 111#ixzz3W9ZVztvd. to-44-oil-trains-weekly-cross-ny/; Jad Mouawad, Bakken Crude, Rolling through Albany, New York Times, Feb. 27, 2014. Available at: 75. 79 Fed. Reg. at 45,034. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/business/energy- environment/bakkan-crude-rolling-through-albany.html?_r=0. 76. Ibid. at 45,027, 45,041. 58. Hazardous Materials: Enhanced Tank Car Standards and Operational 77. 49 CFR 130.31(a); 79 Fed. Reg. at 45,027. Controls for High-Hazard Flammable Trains, 79 Fed. Reg. 45,016, 78. 79 Fed. Reg. 45,079, 45,081 (Aug. 1, 2014). 45,019 (Aug. 1, 2014). 79. State of New York, Transporting Crude Oil in New York State: A 59. Ibid at 45,066. Review of Incident Response and Prevention Capacity, Status Update 60. Oil Change International, Runaway Train: The Reckless Expansion of 2, Nov. 2014. Crude-by-Rail in North America (May 2014). Available at: 80. Ibid at 9. http://priceofoil.org/content/uploads/2014/05/OCI_Runaway_Train_S ingle_reduce.pdf. 81. 79 Fed. Reg. at 45,026. 61. Andy Rowell. March 2, 2015. Transporting Tar Sands “As Dangerous” 82. See The White House. June 25, 2013, 1:45 P.M. Remarks by President As Shale Oil. Oil Change International. Available at: on Climate Change, Georgetown University. Office of the Press http://priceofoil.org/2015/03/02/transporting-tar-sands-dangerous- Secretary, Washington, D.C. Available at: shale-oil/ (accessed Mar. 25, 2015); Whelan, Luke. 2015. Yet Another http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/25/remarks- Oil Train Disaster. Mother Jones. Available at: president-climate-change (accessed November 7, 2014) (stating that http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2015/03/oil-train- the President would reject Keystone XL if it significantly exacerbates derailment-canada. the problem of carbon pollution).

NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION 25 Inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future

www.nwf.org

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