Portland vote lifts hopes of environmentals wary of pipeline By David Abel, Globe staff Boston Globe news story SOUTH PORTLAND — Since World War II, fleets of oil tankers from around the world have sailed up to the long jetty in this placid harbor and unloaded their crude into a 236-mile pipeline that pumped it to 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.
South Portland Girds for Legal Battle, Praised for Precedent on Its Tar Sands Ban
Conservation groups and other areas celebrate the city’s stand against the heavy crude, as opponents map out strategies for overturning the new regulation. By Leslie Bridgers, Staff Writer Portland Press Herald news story South Portland officials are preparing for a legal battle with members of the oil industry over a City Council vote Monday to Read More
How a Town in Maine is Blocking an Exxon Tar-sands Pipeline
By Roger Drouin Grist news story Citizens trying to stop the piping of tar-sands oil through their community wore blue “Clear Skies” shirts at a city council meeting in South Portland, Maine, this week. But they might as well have been wearing boxing gloves. The small city struck a mighty blow against Canadian tar-sands extraction. Read More
Maine City Council Votes To Keep Tar Sands Out Of Its Port
by Susan Sharon NPR news story South Portland, Maine, is known as the place where Liberty ships were built by tens of thousands of workers during World War II. Now, the city’s waterfront is home to an oil terminal and the beginning of a 236-mile-long pipeline. For more than 70 years, the Portland Montreal Pipeline Read More
Maine Conservation Groups Gather with South Portland Residents to Celebrate and React to Tar Sands Vote
Read more about tar sands in South Portland Read public comments by NRCM’s Lisa Pohlmann at final South Portland City Council vote News Release Portland—In a historic vote, the South Portland City Council last night voted 6-1 to pass the Clear Skies Ordinance to protect the city from a tar sands crude oil terminal. The Read More
South Portland Passes Ordinance to Block Tar Sands
by Danielle Waugh WCSH-6 news story SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — With a 6-1 vote, South Portland City Councilors have made history by passing an ordinance to block the loading of crude oil, including tar sands oil. According to the Natural Resources Council of Maine, South Portland is the first community to pass such Read More
South Portland Council Casts “Historic” Vote to Block Tar Sands Exports
By Darren Fishell, BDN Staff Bangor Daily News news story PORTLAND, Maine — The South Portland City Council has effectively banned the export of tar sands, or oil sands, from its waterfront with an ordinance that has gained international attention and that oil industry opponents have vowed to challenge in court or before city officials. Read More
Comments by NRCM at South Portland City Council Final Vote on Clear Skies Ordinance
Comments of Lisa Pohlmann, Natural Resources Council of Maine Executive Director We again would like to congratulate the City Council for its diligent and transparent management of this process. Protecting the health and well-being of the people of South Portland is an enormous responsibility. Mayor Jalbert: you and the rest of the Council have risen Read More
South Portland Planners the Latest to Endorse Anti-tar Sands Ordinance
By Seth Koenig, BDN staff writer Bangor Daily News news story SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — Supporters of a proposed South Portland ordinance that is intended to block transportation of tar sands oil, also called oil sands, through the city lauded Tuesday night’s approval of the measure by the city’s planning board. The planners’ 6-1 endorsement Read More
