Senator Jim Boyle, Chair Representative Joan Welsh, Chair Joint Standing Committee on Environment & Natural Resources Senator Boyle and Representative Welsh, NRCM has been active in opposing the transportation of tar sands through Maine for about two years. We offer qualified support for this Resolve. We support efforts to slow down development of tar sands 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. For a few years, there was a proposal to bring tar sands oil through an existing 63-year-old pipeline in Maine. The pipeline 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 threaten communities and drinking water from Sebago Lake along its path.
Portland Pipeline at Center of Fierce Fight in Maine
by Colin Nickerson, Globe Correspondent Boston Globe news story SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — Over seven decades, the Portland pipeline has propelled some 5 billion gallons of crude oil across the mountains and beneath the pristine waters of northern New England to refineries in Quebec. Aside from a few small spills years ago, the 236-mile-long colossus Read More
Raymond Passes Tar Sands Resolution
By John Balentine KeepMECurrent.com news story RAYMOND — Raymond Board of Selectmen on Tuesday night unanimously passed a resolution urging state and federal officials “to ensure the highest level of safety for the citizens of Raymond and the state of Maine” if a project to transport Canadian oil sands through a Maine pipeline moves forward. Read More
Coalition Petitions Feds to Develop Tar Sands Pipeline Safety Standards
Asks USEPA and DOT to Protect Communities from Tar Sands Spills News Release Montpelier, VT; Augusta, ME — Today, citing inadequate current rules, a coalition of hunter-angler, conservation groups, former government officials, and landowners at risk of tar sands spills filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Read More
Portland-area Residents: No Tar Sands Pipeline
by Tux Turkel, staff writer Portland Press Herald news story SOUTH PORTLAND — Residents from around the Portland area sent a clear message at a workshop held by the city Monday evening to learn more about transporting the heavy crude known as tar-sands oil: They respect the fine record of Portland Pipe Line Corp. but Read More
South Portland Tar Sands Hearing Draws Big Crowd
by Susan Sharon MPBN news story There’s no formal proposal to bring tar sands oil from Canada to Maine — yet. But that didn’t stop more than 350 people from turning out in a South Portland gymnasium last night to learn more about tar sands, and to register their concerns about it. South Portland is Read More
Crossing the Piscataqua
I’d love to believe that many years from now, my grandchildren will be able to catch brook trout in the same lovely little Maine pools where my father taught me to fish. Those native fish reply so reliably to our visits each spring that it has taken me a long time to realize that I shouldn’t Read More
Waterford Passes Resolution Opposing Sending Tar Sands Oil Through Town
NRCM news release Waterford, ME — Waterford residents voted today to pass a municipal resolution stating opposition to sending tar sands oil through ExxonMobil’s Portland-Montreal Pipeline, making it the third Maine town to publicly and officially oppose the proposal. At today’s town meeting more than a half dozen pipeline industry representatives lobbied the townspeople against Read More
NRCM Applauds Pingree and Michaud for Insisting: No Tar Sands in Pipeline without Permit and Review
NRCM news release Today Congresswoman Chellie Pingree sent a letter, co-signed by 17 other members of Congress, including Congressman Michael Michaud, asking that the owners of the Portland Pipeline not be allowed to pump tar sands oil from Canada through Maine without applying for a new permit and undergoing environmental review. The letter was addressed Read More