Dr Kevin Timoney's database of tarsands pollution exceedances is now online, thanks to Greenpeace, Keepers of the Athabasca, Global Forest Watch Canada, Environmental Defence, Sierra Club, and the Pembina Institute.
4 min video interview from Petropolis.
See CBC Edmonton story 30 July 2010. Syncrude and Suncor refused to cooperate, perhaps because their own reports to the Alberta government show continual violations of air and water standards. The Harper government in Ottawa recently removed a toxic, naphthenic acid, from a list of hazards that industry must report.
Timoney's introduction says the database "may in some small way contribute to replacing a culture of impunity with one of responsibility. When Albertans decide they will no longer tolerate bad government, things will get better. Until then, tar sands and other corporations will continue to pollute at will, sure in the knowledge that they operate outside meaningful controls and immune from prosecution. This work is dedicated to Alberta’s civil servants, many of whom strive to serve the public knowing full well their efforts may be nullified at some point along the chain of command."
Melina Laboucan-Massimo, climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace says: “These data indicate a legacy of mismanagement and a lack of oversight by a government that seems more interested in public relations than in addressing the toxic legacy the tar sands are imposing on Albertans...local communities and workers who are often left without any recourse when exposed to emissions and contaminants.”
No comments:
Post a Comment