Reveals True Intentions to Bring Tar Sands Oil Toward Maine NRCM press release Last night Canadian pipeline giant Enbridge announced plans for a massive increase in pipeline capacity to bring dirty tar sands oil from Canada to global markets via the United States. One of the biggest components of the plan is to reverse the Read More
Tar Sands Oil
Tar sands oil is the dirtiest and most climate-destructive form of oil in the world. When it spills, it is almost impossible to clean up. There was a proposal to bring tar sands oil through an existing nearly 70-year-old pipeline in Maine. It crosses some of Maine’s most pristine watersheds and ends at Casco Bay. This plan would have put our lakes, rivers, and coastal waters at risk, and threatened communities and drinking water from Sebago Lake along its path. NRCM was the first organization to bring the threat of tar sands to the public’s attention in Maine in 2009, and was a leader on this issue statewide.
Tar sands oil is one of the dirtiest forms of energy on the planet and is a growing threat in Maine and the Northeast. Extracted from huge open-pit mines in Alberta, Canada, tar sands oil is 20% more carbon intensive than conventional crude oil.
Sending tar sands crude oil to Maine would have required reversing an existing pipeline owned by Portland Montreal Pipe Line, a pipeline that passes next to Sebago Lake, the drinking water supply for more than 15% of Maine people. It would have endangered Casco Bay and our fishing and lobster industries. Many Maine cities and towns passed resolutions in opposition to transporting tar sands oil through their communities, and South Portland passed the Clear Skies Ordinance to protect their community.
Canada-Portland Tar Sands Pipeline Hits Strong Opposition
41,000 Comments Submitted from U.S. and Canadian Citizens Against Threat of Piecemeal Proposal Portland, Maine—The Canadian National Energy Board today closed public input on the proposed Line 9 Reversal Phase I tar sands pipeline project after receiving more than 41,000 citizen comments in opposition. A coalition of 11 groups, including Environment Maine, Natural Resources Council Read More
Conservation Advocates Voice Fears about Oil Pipeline
The prospect of transporting ‘tar sands’ crude to Portland from Canada draws more than 200 to a forum at USM. By Dennis Hoey, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story PORTLAND – A pipeline accident that allows oil to get into Sebago Lake could contaminate the water supply for thousands of southern Maine residents, a Read More
Pipeline Project Could Turn Maine Into ‘Dirty Tar Sands Oil’ Capital of the Eastern U.S.
NRCM Joins Protest of Phase I of “Trailbreaker” Pipeline NRCM news release The Natural Resources Council of Maine has joined with four other environmental organizations in an effort to block a Canadian pipeline project that could make Portland, Maine, the “tar sands capital” of the eastern United States. The groups have sent a letter that calls Read More
