View allAll Photos Tagged bituminous
On Monday, Aug. 13, 2018 WSDOT contractor crews from Granite Construction added a preservation surface of hot oil and gravel to SR 542/Mount Baker Highway near Artist Point gate and Mount Baker Ski Area. Crews are putting this preservation surface over the road following pavement repair earlier this year. Crews will come back in a couple of weeks to add a sealant coat to this new surface. People riding bicycles should consider alternate rides through Sunday, Aug. 19 due to loose gravel through this area.
Anthracite coal from the Pennsylvanian of Pennsylvania, USA.
Metamorphic rocks result from intense alteration of any previously existing rocks by heat and/or pressure and/or chemical change. This can happen as a result of regional metamorphism (large-scale tectonic events, such as continental collision or subduction), burial metamorphism (super-deep burial), contact metamorphism (by the heat & chemicals from nearby magma or lava), hydrothermal metamorphism (by superheated groundwater), shear metamorphism (in or near a fault zone), or shock metamorphism (by an impact event). Other categories include thermal metamorphism, kinetic metamorphism, and nuclear metamorphism. Many metamorphic rocks have a foliated texture, but some are crystalline or glassy.
Anthracite coal is the highest-rank coal. It forms by very low-grade metamorphism (anchimetamorphism) of bituminous coal. Anthracite is always black-colored, with a glassy texture, and is harder & heavier than the other coals (although it is still relatively soft & lightweight). Unlike lignite and bituminous coal, anthracite is not sooty to the touch. Anthracite burns hotter than other coal types, due to its high carbon content (~90% C). It also is the cleanest-burning of all the coals.
Anthracite is a scarce variety of coal. The highest concentration of anthracite on Earth is in the Pennsylvanian-aged coal fields of eastern Pennsylvania, USA. There is still some uncertainty in the details about the origin of Pennsylvania anthracite coal. In Colorado, an anthracite coal deposit occurs next to an igneous intrusion - the anthracite formed by heating from contact or hydrothermal metamorphism. It's been suggested that Pennsylvania anthracite was hydrothermally metamorphosed. The anthracite in Pennsylvania was originally deposited in coal swamps that were relatively high on ancient alluvial plains - those environments are usually not preserved in mountain belts (they get uplifted and eroded). In Pennsylvania, the high alluvial plain facies were downdropped and got preserved, resulting in anthracites representing different facies from those seen in bituminous coal fields.
Age: Pennsylvanian
Locality: Wilkes-Barre, Anthracite Valley (Wyoming Valley), Northern Anthracite Field, northeastern Pennsylvania, USA
This is the tipple at the Atlas Coal Mine.
From the official web site:
Coal was not hard to discover in the area that is now Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. Seams of coal show up as black stripes in the badlands of the Red Deer River Valley.
The Blackfoot and Cree knew about the black rock that burned, but they didn’t like to use it. Later, three white explorers reported coal in the area: Peter Fidler in 1792, Dr. James Hector of the Palliser Expedition in 1857, and Joseph Tyrrell in 1884.
In the years that followed, a handful of ranchers and homesteaders dug coal out of river banks and coulees to heat their homes. However, the first commercial coal mine did not open until Sam Drumheller started the coal rush in the area that now bears his name.
The rush started when Sam bought land off a local rancher named Thomas Greentree. Sam turned around and sold this land to Canadian National Railway, to develop a townsite. Sam also registered a coal mine. Before his mine opened, however, Jesse Gouge and Garnet Coyle beat him to it, and opened the Newcastle Mine. CN laid tracks into town, and the first load of coal was shipped out of Drumheller in 1911.
Once the railway was built, people poured in. Hundreds, then thousands, of people came to dig coal. The greatest numbers came from Eastern Europe, Britain, and Nova Scotia. More mines opened. By the end of 1912, there were 9 working coal mines, each with its own camp of workers: Newcastle, Drumheller, Midland, Rosedale, and Wayne. In the years that followed, more mines and camps sprang up: Nacmine, Cambria, Willow Creek, Lehigh, and East Coulee.
Coal mining was hard, dirty, dangerous work. Mining in the Drumheller Valley, however, was less hard, dirty, and dangerous than it was in many other coal mining regions in Canada. This was due to both lucky geology and lucky timing.
The geology of the Drumheller coal field results in flat lying seams, which are much safer to mine than the steeply pitching seams of the mountain mines. In addition, the coal produced in Drumheller is sub-bituminous. This grade of coal is “immature” which means it hasn’t had time to build up a strong concentration of gas. Methane gas is the biggest killer in coal mines around the world.
The timing of the Drumheller mine industry was lucky, too. By the time the Newcastle opened in 1911, the right to better working conditions had been fought for and won by miners’ unions in North America. As a result, miners were provided with wash houses, better underground ventilation, and higher safety standards. When the Newcastle opened, there were laws in place to prohibit child labour, so boys under 14 were no longer allowed underground. The worst of the worst coal mining days were over, at least in North America.
Nevertheless, early mine camps around Drumheller were called “hell’s hole” because miners lived in tents, or shacks, with little sanitation and little comfort. It was a man’s world, with drinking, gambling, and watching fistfights common forms of recreation. As shacks gave way to little houses, and women joined the men and started families, life improved. Hockey, baseball, music, theatre, and visiting friends enriched peoples’ lives. Going downtown Saturday night was a huge event, with every language in Europe spoken by the crowds spilling off the sidewalks. No longer “hell’s hole,” Drumheller became “the wonder town of the west!” and “the fastest growing town in Canada, if not in North America!”
Sub-bituminous coal is ideal for heating homes and cooking food. People all over western Canada heated their homes, schools, and offices with Drumheller coal. Long, cold winters were good for Drumheller, because everyone needed lots of coal. In these years, miners had of money in their pockets. Short, mild winters were difficult. A miner might only work one day a week, and get laid off in early spring. He got through the summer by growing a big garden, catching fish, and working for farmers.
Between 1911 and 1979, 139 mines were registered in the Drumheller valley. Some mines didn’t last long, but 34 were productive for many years. Between 1912 and 1966, Drumheller produced 56,864,808 tons of coal, making it one of the major coal producing regions in Canada.
The beginning of the end for Drumheller’s mining industry was the Leduc Oil Strike of 1948. After this, natural gas became the fuel of choice for home heating in western Canada. To the mine operators, it seemed that people switched from messy coal stoves to clean gas furnaces as fast as they could. As the demand for coal dropped, mines closed. As mines closed, people moved away and communities suffered. Some communities, like Willow Creek, completely vanished. Others, like East Coulee, went from a boomtown of 3800 to a ghost town of 180. When the Atlas #4 Mine shipped its last load of coal in 1979, the coal years of Drumheller were over.
The Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site preserves the last of the Drumheller mines. The Atlas recalls the time when Coal was King, and “mining the black” brought thousands of people to this lonely valley. The nearby East Coulee School Museum interprets the life of children and families in a bustling mine town.
This 360° High Dynamic Range panorama was stitched from 66 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, processed in Color Efex, and finally touched up in Aperture.
Original size: 20000 × 10000 (200.0 MP; 1.03 GB).
Location: East Coulee, Alberta, Canada
The History of Caedu Colliery.
Caedu Colliery first produced bituminous house coal early in 1868; it worked the No. 2 Rhondda seam from its outcrop high up on Mynydd Llangeinor. It was opened by John Brogden and Sons.
A steam powered haulage at the surface of the colliery pulled empty trams up an incline, which ran up the mountainside from the standard gauge railway at the valley floor just north of the present day electrical sub-station on North Road. The loaded trams were lowered down the incline for direct loading of the coal into railway wagons at a siding loop which also served the Tynewydd Colliery.
There were two drift mouths. The more southerly main drift was the ventilation intake roadway; a smaller drift with an associated air shaft provided furnace ventilation. The colliery was worked with naked lights.
The No. 2 Rhondda seam also outcropped on the Garw side of Mynydd Llangeinor where it was proved and the Fforchwen coal levels were opened about 1866 to work the seam. At that time there was no railway serving the Garw Valley to take coal to market. At first, a small steam locomotive named “John Grave” hauled the trams of coal from Fforchwen along a narrow gauge tramway across Mynydd Llangeinor almost a mile to the head of the Caedu Incline on the Ogmore valley side. They were then lowered by a fixed steam haulage down the incline over 1000 yards to a loading point on the railway behind where numbers 27 to 31, St. John Street, Ogmore Vale now stand. Within a few years, underground connections were made between the workings of Fforchwen and those of Caedu colliery and the Fforchwen coal was taken through the Caedu roadways and lowered down the Caedu Colliery incline for loading at the railway below North Road. Consequently, the mountain locomotive tramway and the Caedu Incline became disused.
The Fforchwen Levels and Caedu Colliery were closed in April 1891.
1 of 4 photos in a series. This looks like coal seams in a mining test cut. While driving back from a photography shoot in Arches N.P., I came across this great geology stock photo shot, and I couldn't resist stopping to take a photo. It's really not a test cut in an open cut or open pit coal mine, but it's a cut though a mountain for a highway near Helper, Utah. "Carbon County" is appropriately name, because it has Utah's highest concentration of underground coal mines.
The impact of coal fly ash (CFA) exposure to the ecosystem and human health has not gone unnoticed. Is quiet very obvious that CFA disposal will continue unabated and will continue to constitute a menace to the ecosystem as the demands for energy soured-up. This is expected as the utilization and exploration of dormant coal deposits will take a comeback into the energy master-plan of most developing economies. As a fallout of these demands, the health risk associated with CFA, particularly as regards the Nigerian bituminous CFA were reported in this study. Albino rats were separately administered coal fly ash sample burned at a temperatures of 500°C and 900°C. The assumption is to get more insight whether coal burning temperature participated in defining the underlying susceptibility of CFA toxicity. The in vivo study shows the CFA at both ashing temperature exerted similar effect on both the biochemical indices and the histological section of the rats, suggesting the effects to be independent of the temperature at which samples were burned. Even though, the CFA were observed to trigger toxic induced effects, the chapter picture the CFA generated from coal combustion processes as an integral components of a productive cycles than a menace. A resources for other applications and a sink that may act to absorb or detoxify waste. This chapter attempt to establish an ecological symbiosis between the CFA generated as a waste to environmental sustainability by closing material cycle in concert with the ecosystem based on the concept of industrial ecology. The expectations are that the impact of the chapter will influences changing post-processing materials from coal combustion processes from waste to resources. The Nigerian bituminous CFA sample collected at two different ashing temperatures of 500°C and 900°C produced similar biochemical and histological effects. The analyses showed that the effects were not dose and ashing temperatures dependent. Attributed, more probably to the combustion efficiency rather than coal type and fly ash sampling temperature. And more probably to the ability of both the organic and inorganic constituents of the CFA to initiate and induce the formation of free radicals, particularly activated reactive oxygen species, by Fenton-like reaction. To ameliorate the environmental-related concerns of CFA on the ecosystem, the concept of industrial ecology were discussed in line with natural concept of ecology. Placing emphasis on CFA utilization in soil amendment and reclamations, in agriculture, as adsorbents materials, in catalysis, in ceramics and in concretes. The assumption is that changing post-processing materials from waste to resources will reduce economic cost and environmental impact of effluent like CFA.
Biography of author(s)
Dr. Ibrahim Birma Bwatanglang
Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Adamawa State University Mubi, Nigeria.
Dr. Samuel Tinema Magili
Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Adamawa State University Mubi, Nigeria.
Mr. Yakubu Musa
Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Adamawa State University Mubi, Nigeria.
Read full article: bp.bookpi.org/index.php/bpi/catalog/view/27/85/179-1
View More: www.youtube.com/watch?v=odCBSE_Xry0
The History of Tynewydd Colliery.
Tynewydd Colliery was opened by J. Brogden and Sons late in 1865 to work the No. 3 Rhondda seam, a bituminous coking and house coal seam; domestic coke was manufactured in nearby coke ovens. For a short period, the fireclay and shale produced during the working of the coal seam were processed and burnt for brick making in nearby beehive type brick kilns.
The colliery was worked with naked lights and, originally, with furnace ventilation which was replaced by a steam driven fan in its later years.
During its lifetime the colliery was owned by:-
T. Thomas, John Brogden and Sons (The Llynvi and Tondu Iron and Coal Co. Ltd.), The Llynvi, Tondu and Ogmore Coal & Iron Company Ltd. and North's Navigation Collieries (1889) Ltd. Tynewydd Colliery was abandoned on the 10th January 1905
On Monday, Aug. 13, 2018 WSDOT contractor crews from Granite Construction added a preservation surface of hot oil and gravel to SR 542/Mount Baker Highway near Artist Point gate and Mount Baker Ski Area. Crews are putting this preservation surface over the road following pavement repair earlier this year. Crews will come back in a couple of weeks to add a sealant coat to this new surface. People riding bicycles should consider alternate rides through Sunday, Aug. 19 due to loose gravel through this area.
Bat fossil displayed at the exhibition at Grube Messel (Messel Pit), Hessen (Hesse), Germany.
Grube Messel is inscribed in the World Heritage List of the UNESCO as Messel Pit Fossil Site.
---quotation from en.wikipedia.org:---
The Messel Pit (German: Grube Messel) is a disused quarry near the village of Messel (Landkreis Darmstadt-Dieburg, Hesse) about 35 km (22 mi) southeast of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Bituminous shale was mined there. Because of its abundance of well-preserved fossils dating from the middle of the Eocene, it has significant geological and scientific importance. Over 1000 species of plants and animals have been found at the site. After almost becoming a landfill, strong local resistance eventually stopped these plans and the Messel Pit was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 9 December 1995. Significant scientific discoveries about the early evolution of mammals and birds are still being made at the Messel Pit, and the site has increasingly become a tourist site as well.
---end of quotation---
Hesse/Taunus short trip August 2014
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
On Tuesday, July 31 and Wednesday, Aug. 1 WSDOT Contractor crews from Granite Construction applied a bituminous surface treatment (hot oil and gravel) to the surface of SR 531 from milepost 0 near Lake Goodwin to milepost 5 near Lakewood High School. This preservation work is used to help preserve highways between funded paving projects. The daytime work and long moving work zone creates long delays. Travelers are encouraged to avoid nonessential trips during this work.
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
Two similar metal basketball backboards located within the same gymnasium; top backboard contains a textured black asbestos-containing coating (painted off-white) and bottom backboard contains no such coating.
On Wednesday, Sept. 5 and Thursday, Sept. 6 WSDOT contractor crews from Granite Construction added a final sealant layer to this stretch of highway to SR 542/Mount Baker Highway between Silver Fir Campground and the Artist Point Gate. Crews had already done pavement repair, crack sealing and applied a preservation surface of oil and gravel to this area. Next up - striping!
If you’re ever in the area, the Atlas Coal Mine is well worth a visit. It is gradually being restored, and every year there is another part newly open. It is a wonderful museum of what life was like a century ago.
Here you can see the tipple where coal was graded and sorted, along with some of the administrative buildings on the right. The mine shaft is up the hill behind the tipple, mostly obscured by the buildings from this angle.
Coal was not hard to discover in the area that is now Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. Seams of coal show up as black stripes in the badlands of the Red Deer River Valley.
The Blackfoot and Cree knew about the black rock that burned, but they didn't like to use it. Later, three white explorers reported coal in the area: Peter Fidler in 1792, Dr. James Hector of the Palliser Expedition in 1857, and Joseph Tyrrell in 1884.
In the years that followed, a handful of ranchers and homesteaders dug coal out of river banks and coulees to heat their homes. However, the first commercial coal mine did not open until Sam Drumheller started the coal rush in the area that now bears his name.
The rush started when Sam bought land off a local rancher named Thomas Greentree. Sam turned around and sold this land to Canadian National Railway, to develop a townsite. Sam also registered a coal mine. Before his mine opened, however, Jesse Gouge and Garnet Coyle beat him to it, and opened the Newcastle Mine. CN laid tracks into town, and the first load of coal was shipped out of Drumheller in 1911.
Once the railway was built, people poured in. Hundreds, then thousands, of people came to dig coal. The greatest numbers came from Eastern Europe, Britain, and Nova Scotia. More mines opened. By the end of 1912, there were 9 working coal mines, each with its own camp of workers: Newcastle, Drumheller, Midland, Rosedale, and Wayne. In the years that followed, more mines and camps sprang up: Nacmine, Cambria, Willow Creek, Lehigh, and East Coulee.
Coal mining was hard, dirty, dangerous work. Mining in the Drumheller Valley, however, was less hard, dirty, and dangerous than it was in many other coal mining regions in Canada. This was due to both lucky geology and lucky timing.
The geology of the Drumheller coal field results in flat lying seams, which are much safer to mine than the steeply pitching seams of the mountain mines. In addition, the coal produced in Drumheller is sub-bituminous. This grade of coal is "immature" which means it hasn't had time to build up a strong concentration of gas. Methane gas is the biggest killer in coal mines around the world.
The timing of the Drumheller mine industry was lucky, too. By the time the Newcastle opened in 1911, the right to better working conditions had been fought for and won by miners' unions in North America. As a result, miners were provided with wash houses, better underground ventilation, and higher safety standards. When the Newcastle opened, there were laws in place to prohibit child labour, so boys under 14 were no longer allowed underground. The worst of the worst coal mining days were over, at least in North America.
Nevertheless, early mine camps around Drumheller were called "hell's hole" because miners lived in tents, or shacks, with little sanitation and little comfort. It was a man's world, with drinking, gambling, and watching fistfights common forms of recreation. As shacks gave way to little houses, and women joined the men and started families, life improved. Hockey, baseball, music, theatre, and visiting friends enriched peoples' lives. Going downtown Saturday night was a huge event, with every language in Europe spoken by the crowds spilling off the sidewalks. No longer "hell's hole," Drumheller became "the wonder town of the west!" and "the fastest growing town in Canada, if not in North America!"
Sub bituminous coal is ideal for heating homes and cooking food. People all over western Canada heated their homes, schools, and offices with Drumheller coal. Long, cold winters were good for Drumheller, because everyone needed lots of coal. In these years, miners had of money in their pockets. Short, mild winters were difficult. A miner might only work one day a week, and get laid off in early spring. He got through the summer by growing a big garden, catching fish, and working for farmers.
Between 1911 and 1979, 139 mines were registered in the Drumheller valley. Some mines didn't last long, but 34 were productive for many years. Between 1912 and 1966, Drumheller produced 56,864,808 tons of coal, making it one of the major coal producing regions in Canada.
The beginning of the end for Drumheller's mining industry was the Leduc Oil Strike of 1948. After this, natural gas became the fuel of choice for home heating in western Canada. To the mine operators, it seemed that people switched from messy coal stoves to clean gas furnaces as fast as they could. As the demand for coal dropped, mines closed. As mines closed, people moved away and communities suffered. Some communities, like Willow Creek, completely vanished. Others, like East Coulee, went from a boomtown of 3800 to a ghost town of 180. When the Atlas #4 Mine shipped its last load of coal in 1979, the coal years of Drumheller were over.
The Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site preserves the last of the Drumheller mines. The Atlas recalls the time when Coal was King, and "mining the black" brought thousands of people to this lonely valley. The nearby East Coulee School Museum interprets the life of children and families in a bustling mine town.
This is a High Dynamic Range panorama stitched from 21 hand-held images with Hugin, tone-mapped with enfuse, and then cleaned up in Aperture.
Image size 9750 × 3600 pixels (52 MB).
Location: Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site, East Coulee, Drumheller, Alberta, Canada
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
The public baths were built for Chester City Council between 1898 and 1901 and were designed by the local architect John Douglas on whose land they were constructed. It was an unusual commission for Douglas, as most of his previous designs had been for churches and houses. Designing the baths involved "technical complexity and specialist engineering work". During the design process Douglas advised that because of possible leakage through the concrete linings of the baths, it should be replaced by a bituminous lining at an additional cost of £150 (£14,000 as of 2015); the council agreed to this.
In the 1970s the city council were building Northgate Arena, a leisure complex which included a swimming pool, and they stated that they would not be able to afford to run both this and the old baths. However the City of Chester Swimming Club were of the opinion that the new baths would not be suitable for competitive swimming or for water polo. The Chester Swimming Association was formed and they took over the management of the baths on 14 April 1977. They made improvements to the building, including the installation of gas central heating and a new water filtration system, the addition of a kitchen, cafeteria and gymnasium, and strengthening of the structure. The slipper bath was replaced by a clubroom and bar.
The structure is partly in two storeys and partly in one storey. The frontage on Union Street is in two storeys. The lower storey is in red Ruabon brick with stone dressings, the upper storey is half-timbered, and the decorated chimney stacks are brick. Behind the frontage are the swimming baths and the boiler house is at the rear. The frontage is symmetrical; the small wing at the left originally contained the caretaker's flat and a slipper bath. The ground floor contains two arched entrances, each with double doors and windows. Between the entrances is a pair of ogee-headed windows, over which is a stone panel containing the city's coat of arms. The upper storey is jettied and has three gables. Beneath the middle gable is a five-light mullioned canted oriel window, and under the outer arches are four-light mullioned casement windows. Internally there are two swimming baths. The larger, the Atlantic, 25 yards (23 m) long, is deep enough for diving, and is surrounded by galleries. The other bath, the Pacific, is 20 yards (18 m) long.
Douglas' biographer, Edward Hubbard, commenting on the utilitarian nature of the building, stated that the domestic architectural style of its frontage "bears little relation in plan or character to what lies behind".
Close-up image of an asbestos-containing spray-applied coating on the underside of a 1960's vintage metal bathtub. Laboratory analysis indicated the black, bituminous material contained approx. 10% chrysotile.
This is an old wooden hopper car at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in the town of Strasburg. It is a GG class hopper car built in July 1895 by Barney and Smith in Dayton, Ohio and used on the Pittsburgh, Youngstown & Ashtabula Railroad. It is about 30 feet long, weighs 18 tons, and has a freight capacity of 40 tons.
Info. from museum signage:
"Constructed in the late nineteenth century, the Pittsburgh, Youngstown and Ashtabula (PY&A) connected the steel mills of Pittsburgh with the shores of Lake Erie. A subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Lines West, the line remains a major artery of coal, ore, and steel traffic to this day. It should come as no surprise that coal was one of the PY&A's top commodities. Like most rolling stock of the period, the hoppers that carried this coal were made primarily made of wood. While inexpensive to manufacture, these cars lacked the durability and strength of steel, as well as overall payload capacity.
The prototype for gondola No. 1818 was known as the "Potter Gondola Car", developed in 1895 by G.L. Potter, the Superintendent of Motive Power for the Northwest System of the Pennsylvania Railroad. This was the first major step in the evolution of hopper cars from gondolas. With the addition of sloped end sheets and discharge doors in the floor, the use of gravity helped facilitate the loading and unloading of the car. When the last of the wooden GGs were being built in 1899, the next major evolution in car technology had begun. The Pennsylvania Railroad's next large order for hopper cars, placed in 1898, was for all steel class GL cars.
No. 1818 was one of 725 class GG hoppers delivered to the Pittsburgh, Youngstown & Ashtabula in 1895. It was part of a much larger, 2,050 car order placed by the Pennsylvania Railroad that year. The order was so large that is was farmed out to several railcar manufacturers. Barney and Smith built this car at a cost of $512.35. Although No. 1818 had an overall capacity of 40 tons, some cars were later altered to a 50 ton capacity with the addition of higher car sides. Its primary commodity hauled was bituminous coal.
No. 1818's retirement date is unknown, but many GG hoppers did survive into the late 1920s. Renumbered as No. 491715, the car finished its career in Maintenance of Way duty as an ash car. No. 1818 was selected by the Pennsylvania Railroad for exhibition at the 1939 World's Fair in New York and so was restored at the company's Altoona Car Shops at a cost of $1,490.38. The car was retained in the Pennsylvania Railroad's historic collection until its donation to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 1979. It is the oldest surviving Pennsylvania Railroad freight car in existence."
On Monday, Aug. 13, 2018 WSDOT contractor crews from Granite Construction added a preservation surface of hot oil and gravel to SR 542/Mount Baker Highway near Artist Point gate and Mount Baker Ski Area. Crews are putting this preservation surface over the road following pavement repair earlier this year. Crews will come back in a couple of weeks to add a sealant coat to this new surface. People riding bicycles should consider alternate rides through Sunday, Aug. 19 due to loose gravel through this area.
On Monday, Aug. 13, 2018 WSDOT contractor crews from Granite Construction added a preservation surface of hot oil and gravel to SR 542/Mount Baker Highway near Artist Point gate and Mount Baker Ski Area. Crews are putting this preservation surface over the road following pavement repair earlier this year. Crews will come back in a couple of weeks to add a sealant coat to this new surface. People riding bicycles should consider alternate rides through Sunday, Aug. 19 due to loose gravel through this area.
(4.2 centimeters across)
--------------------------------------
Sedimentary rocks form by the solidification of loose sediments. Loose sediments become hard rocks by the processes of deposition, burial, compaction, dewatering, and cementation.
There are three categories of sedimentary rocks:
1) Siliciclastic sedimentary rocks form by the solidification of sediments produced by weathering & erosion of any previously existing rocks.
2) Biogenic sedimentary rocks form by the solidification of sediments that were once-living organisms (plants, animals, micro-organisms).
3) Chemical sedimentary rocks form by the solidification of sediments formed by inorganic chemical reactions. Most sedimentary rocks have a clastic texture, but some are crystalline.
Peat is a biogenic sedimentary deposit consisting of slightly compacted terrestrial plant debris. Peat is the precursor to coal. Compaction, heating, and diagenetic alteration of peat leads to the formation of lignite coal. Further compaction and heating results in sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal, sub-anthracite coal, and anthracite coal. Peat deposits are geologically quite young and have not undergone any significant burial or diagenesis. Peats form in stagnant, swampy environments. Plant fragments in peats are easily visible to the naked eye.
Peats are brown to dark brown in color, easily broken, and extremely lightweight, especially when dried out. They have relatively low carbon contents compared with coals, but they will burn in a fire. Peat is used as a source of fuel in some parts of the world, but burning peat releases a fair amount of particulate pollutants (it’s a dirty fuel).
FISSILE CORE STORAGE –
The fissile cores were stored in small buildings arranged around the large non-nuclear component stores. In total there are 57 of these buildings, which are divided into 48 Type 'A' and 9 Type 'B' stores. The fissile core stores are organised in four uneven groups around the non-nuclear stores. The two southerly groups of stores are arranged symmetrically to the south of the large non-nuclear stores, each group having sixteen small store buildings. The north-eastern group contains eleven stores and the north-west group fourteen. All but the south-east group contained a mixture of Type 'A' and Type 'B' stores.
The store buildings are linked together by pedestrian width walkways, fenced by tubular steel pipes 37in tall with strands of white between the horizontal members. The area was lit by pre-cast concrete lamp-posts, each of which had a red panic button at chest height. The Type 'A' storage buildings 1-48 are small kiosk-like structures. In plan they measure 8ft 4in by 7ft 10in and stand 9ft above ground level. The foundations of the building are constructed of 3ft thick mass concrete. The walls are of cavity wall construction and are formed of solid concrete blocks, while the roof is a flat over-hanging reinforced concrete slab with a drip mould, and is covered with bituminous felt. The design drawing (Drg. No. 3563B/52) shows a variety of irregular roof plans designed to disguise the structures from the air. These were never built, all the roofs being rectangular in plan.
Fittings on the walls indicate that they were all originally protected by copper earthing straps. On the front of many of the stores a stencilled notice records ''Date of last lightning conductor test April - 63''. Internally the walls are finished in unpainted, smooth gritless plaster. The side and rear walls are ventilated by four small controllable ventilators, two at the base of the wall and two at the top. In the floor of each of the Type 'A' stores is a single keyhole shaped cavity. Each hole is 1ft 5in in diameter and 1ft 9in deep. The shaft of the hole measures 10in wide and is 8in long and is shallower than the main hole at 3½in. A scar around the hole suggests it originally contained a vessel with the asphalt brought up around its lip. This is confirmed by the survival of the surrounding lip in similar stores at RAF Faldingworth, Lincolnshire, and by the rare survival of a number of stainless steel vessels at the bomb store at RAF Gaydon, Warwickshire.
The electrical system of each store was contained within small bore metal pipes; circular junction boxes led to other electrical fittings, which have in most cases been removed. In a number of the stores 'Walsall' Type 1174X flameproof switch boxes remained. On their covers is cast ''5 Amp 250 Volt Flameproof switchbox type Walsall 1174BX Group 2 FLP 302 Group 3 Test P60 Isolate supply elsewhere before removing this cover''. A small formica sign confirmed that ''The electrical installation in this building is standard 'A' in accordance with AP 2608A''. All the stores originally had external fuse boxes to the left of their doors.
The doors are wooden and open outwards, their outer faces being protected by a steel sheet. They are secured by a combination lock and internal vertical locking bar operated by an external handle. A metal fitting in the path allowed the door to be secured half ajar. Above the door, and attached to its frame, is a spring-loaded electrical contact, which probably recorded on the control board in building 63 whether or not the door was open or closed. Externally and internally the doors are painted light blue. On the door of building No. 1 is a 1ft diameter radiation symbol in yellow and out-lined in black, below it is a 11½in yellow square with a black star at its centre.
The Type 'B' store buildings 49-57 are slightly larger than the Type 'A' measuring 9ft 7in by 7ft 10n. Otherwise the details of the stores are identical to the smaller stores. The principle difference between the two types of structures is that the Type 'B ' had two storage holes in their floors. Each of these buildings was also equipped with a small wooden counter adjacent to the doors; the counters measure 2ft 6in by 1ft 6in and standing 4ft tall. They have been removed from stores 53 and 55. At some point during the operational life of the station the holes in the floors of all the Type 'B' stores were filled and covered by gritless asphalt. The asphalt surfaces in the stores are continuous, often with a slight depression marking the position of the holes, which implies that the original floor was lifted and new floors laid. The holes in store 52 have been reopened, as indicated by fragments of the asphalt surface thrown back into the holes. This is in contrast to RAF Faldingworth where the holes have been left open.
In total there were enough holes to store 66 fissile cores. One source states that the single hole stores contained plutonium cores, while the double-hole stores were, used for cobalt cores. Currently available documentation does not reveal if one fissile core may be equated with one bomb, or if a bomb contained more than one fissile core. Recent research has shown that Britain probably produced no more than twenty Blue Danube warheads, with this number on the active stockpile between 1957 and 1961. It is therefore likely that no more than a handful of weapons were stored at RAF Barnham at anyone time.
The significance of the filling of the holes in the Type 'B' stores is also unclear. It may coincide with the withdrawal of the first generation nuclear weapon, ''Blue Danube'', and the deployment second generation atomic bomb, ''Red Beard'' (from 1961), or it may be related to the introduction of first British hydrogen bomb, ''Yellow Sun'' (from 1958). Given the number of available nuclear warheads in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, it is unlikely that the RAF Barnham store was ever full. Part of RAF Barnham's function, along with other bomb stores, was to convince the Soviet Union that Britain had more nuclear weapons at her disposal than was in fact the case.
Information sourced from English Heritage.
Strictly speaking, Windsor's famous Guildhall, should be known as the Town Hall, for it was never the meeting place of the town's guilds. The meeting place or 'Guild Hall' would have been the 'Three Tuns' next door, which dates from around 1518.
The merchant and craft guilds were important to the running of the town and its trade from the earliest days. A merchant guild was in existence by 1268 and would have been involved in negotiations for the granting of Windsor's first Charter on 28th May 1277. The Charter meant that Windsor was no longer administered by the Constable of the Castle, but became a free Borough, responsible for managing its own affairs.
By 1337 we have the first recorded name of the steward, or leader, of the Guildhall, John Godray. Within a few years, in 1363, the title steward had given way to mayor, the first recorded being John Peyntour, whose position required him to represent the town, and exercise jurisdiction in a court that was held every three weeks. In 1439 a second charter was granted that included the right for the mayor and bailiffs to be Justices of the Peace and the title 'steward' fell out of use. A further Royal Charter of 1466 established a new Corporation comprising the mayor, bailiffs and burgesses.
A meeting place known as Trinity House was built in 1518 and has survived to this day in the form of The Three Tuns public house behind the Guildhall. This was the meeting place of the Trinity Guild, a charitable institution, but such guilds were suppressed by Edward VI in 1547.
Throughout this time, the area at the top of the town adjacent to the castle and Parish Church would have also been the market area, as established by the Normans.
In the area now occupied by Queen Victoria's Statue there used to stand the Market Cross, built by John Sadler in 1380, where local produce could be bought and sold. It survived for over 300 years, until 1691, a year after the Guildhall we know today was completed.
In 1592 a new market house was built just to the north of the site of the present Guildhall. This building lasted rather less than 100 years for in 1687 the council ordered it to be demolished.
The Town Hall as we know it today was commenced in 1687, the foundation stone being laid on 5th September 1687. It was designed by Sir Thomas Fitz, (Fiddes), Surveyor to the Cinque Ports. Sir Thomas died before the work was finished, and it was completed by Sir Christopher Wren and ready for occupation on 17th October 1689. The design of the building allowed for a corn market beneath the meeting chamber above. Many have wondered about the four pillars in the centre of the Corn Market, for they do not actually support the ceiling. Rumour has it that the council were concerned that the unsupported floor of the chamber may collapse, but Sir Christopher Wren, to prove a point, left the additional columns short of the ceiling. The pillars are of Portland Stone. In the large council chamber are a number of excellent paintings of Royal and other persons, including portraits of King George V and Queen Mary, presented by Their Majesties to the Corporation.
The Town Hall until a few years ago was stuccoed and painted. The stucco has now been removed, the old walls beneath re-exposed and the building restored to its original appearance.
During the autumn of 1969 Her Majesty the Queen paid a visit to the Guildhall at Windsor. What has remained unreported until now is that the very next day a length of heavy plaster frieze rail fell from high up in the Committee Room. It was realised with horror that Her Majesty had passed below that point only a few hours before! There were cracks appearing in the pediment mouldings, and the matter was debated urgently at the next committee. The Borough Engineer had scaffolding erected at the east end, to examine the brickwork, which appeared to be suspect. The officers were appalled to find that the whole pediment could be moved and so the area was closed. A consultant architect [Messrs Donald Insall & Associates] was engaged as a matter of urgency and their comprehensive report was submitted in November 1969.
Floors had to be taken up for the timbers to be examined, and the roof timbers surveyed, so that the original construction and subsequent maintenance of the Guildhall could be recorded. Donald Insall in his white overalls was indefatigable, delving into the deeds - and misdeeds - of both Georgian and Victorian workmanship. Some penny pinching during the original construction was revealed and during subsequent maintenance too. The Bath stone which had been used for quoins and window openings had weathered badly such that replacement was essential. The lead gutters had been repeatedly patched with black bituminous material and had a history of leaking, so that the adjacent timbers were at risk. New leads were essential. Defective 17th century brickwork had to be renewed because some of the bricklaying was found to be "unbelievably bad". Chimney stacks had to be rebuilt and the flag staff resited so that it was supported on brickwork and not by the gutter boarding.
The main beam under the Council Chamber appeared to be a ship's mast of huge proportions. Portions were found to be riddled with Death Watch beetle, and the decayed parts and associated 'frass' removed. The remainder was plated with steel angles to form a foundation for the brickwork above.
It was clear that improvements to the ventilation were advisable as well as attention to the increasing problem of traffic noise and vibration. Double glazing was essential with only the best quality workmanship and materials acceptable to repair the building for a further three centuries. The Corporation of Windsor adopted not only the 'essential' but aslo the 'recommended' sections of the report. The tender of Boyd & Murley Ltd from Reading was accepted with the work starting in April 1970. It took about six months and cost £50,000 including the consultant's fees. This is about £1.2 million at today's prices [2004].
No records have been found concerning the original design by Sir Thomas Fitz, nor variations incorporated by Sir Christopher Wren after Sir Thomas had died. An early 17th century drawing by Knyff and engraved by Kip indicated both a hipped roof and a pediment, the same one that was found to be dangerous in 1969. It is assumed that money was short, and that Sir Christopher had to build the pediments as cheaply as possible. Instead of Portland stone, part of the work was rendering, and this had cracked. A core of tilework was supported by large iron spikes driven into a great beam which was a standard method at that time, but once the rendering had cracked, as it did, and the tilework had deteriorated, the spikes would rust and the beam would rot, so Portland stone was used as a replacement, protected by lead.
At no time was the tradition of the corn exchange columns being left short of the council chamber floor proven, but the story dies hard.
Perhaps of interest to American readers especially, the massive, wooden, mast-like joist supporting the floor of the council chamber was said to have come from a pine forest near Freeport, Maine in the US.
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
On Tuesday, Aug. 28 WSDOT contractor crews from Granite Construction added a final sealant layer to this stretch of highway between Marblemount and Newhalem on SR 20. Crews had already done pavement repair, crack sealing and applied a preservation surface of oil and gravel to this area. Next up - striping!
After the Civil War, three rival railroads pierced the rugged, mineral rich hills of the eastern Hocking Valley of Ohio where coveted veins of bituminous coal, measuring up to fourteen feet in thickness, were sought to fuel the nation’s energy-thirsty industrial revolution. Along the quickly built rail lines that connected the region with ports on Lake Erie to the north and the Ohio River to the south, dozens of little towns appeared everywhere. The investors not only built the rail lines, they purchased the land and mineral rights where they quickly opened coal mines, iron ore furnaces and company stores.
The investors and owners first employed mostly American-born miners of Welsh, Scotts-Irish and English descent. As labor tensions rose, they were soon followed by a flood of new workers who were made up of African Americans recently freed from slavery in the South, and central and eastern European immigrants recruited directly from immigration centers at ports in New York and Philadelphia.
The newly arrived coal miners of the region fervently embraced the secretive international Knights of Labor Union movement during its formative years 1869-1878. The K of L built one of the first labor union halls in the region at Shawnee in 1881, known as the K of L Opera House. The building was home to a “cooperative store” experiment, opera house, and the K of L headquarters which housed a library for miners and hosted language schools for newly arriving immigrant miners.
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
On Monday, Aug. 13, 2018 WSDOT contractor crews from Granite Construction added a preservation surface of hot oil and gravel to SR 542/Mount Baker Highway near Artist Point gate and Mount Baker Ski Area. Crews are putting this preservation surface over the road following pavement repair earlier this year. Crews will come back in a couple of weeks to add a sealant coat to this new surface. People riding bicycles should consider alternate rides through Sunday, Aug. 19 due to loose gravel through this area.
Cannel coal (bedding plane view) from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA. (geology hammer for scale)
Cannel coals are odd varieties of coal. They don’t have the look & feel of ordinary coals such as lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite. Cannel coals are lightweight, as all coals are, but are surprisingly tight and solid - they hold up to natural weathering pretty well, considering they’re coals. They are not sooty to the touch, and have conchoidal fracture (smooth & curved fracture surfaces). Cannel coals lack the well-developed horizontal bedding & laminations seen in lignites and bituminous coals. Some workers refer to cannel coal as a variety of oil shale, but it is not. Shale is siliciclastic in origin and is fissile. Cannel coal is biogenic in origin - it is not siliciclastic - and is not fissile.
Not surprisingly, the differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
The cannel coal sample seen here is from the Flint Ridge Coal, a little known horizon in the Pottsville Group of eastern Ohio. The Pottsville Group is a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession containing nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Limestone horizon (?).
This specimen is left over from a very old (1800s) cannel coal mining operation on the northern flanks of western Flint Ridge in Licking County, Ohio. The adit is covered, but float specimens of Flint Ridge cannel coal are still present in the proximal portions of the surrounding landscape. All Flint Ridge cannel coal specimens at this locality are weathered, but the interiors are moderately unweathered. Crack surfaces have velvety/satiny luster and conchoidal fracture. Partings are moderately common. Fossil plant fragments are also present, as is charcoal (= fragments of burned wood from ancient forest fires) and pyritized charcoal. Fossil bivalves (clams) were observed on some cannel coal parting planes. Weathered fracture surfaces in the cannel coal have limonite, turgite, and apparent native sulfur. Occasional patches of pyrite are present in the massive portions of the cannel coal.
Cannel coal from the Flint Ridge Coal horizon was mined and processed into kerosene, which was used as illuminating fuel in the 1800s.
Stratigraphy: Flint Ridge Coal (below the Lower Mercer Limestone & below the Middle Mercer Coal), Pottsville Group, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: old cannel coal mine in the woods on the western side of Cooks Hill Road, just south of house at 7018 Cooks Hill Road, northern flanks of western Flint Ridge, southeastern Licking County, east-central Ohio, USA (vicinity of 39° 59’ 20.34” North latitude, 82° 17’ 08.30” West longitude)
Bituminous coal from the Pennsylvanian of Ohio, USA.
The Pottsville Group is a Pennsylvanian-aged cyclothemic succession containing nonmarine shales, marine shales, siltstones, sandstones, coals, marine limestones, and chert ("flint"). The lower Pottsville dates to the late Early Pennsylvanian. The upper part dates to the early Middle Pennsylvanian. The Lower-Middle Pennsylvanian boundary is apparently somewhere near the Boggs Limestone horizon (?).
This sample is from the Middle Mercer Coal. Stratigraphically, the coal horizon occurs immediately below the Lower Mercer Limestone, a widespread marine fossiliferous limestone unit. The Middle Mercer Coal usually consists of bituminous coal, but in places it is a cannel coal.
The slight rainbow coloration is turgite, which is an iron oxide material formed by alteration and oxidation of pyrite ("fool's gold", FeS2) (see: www.flickr.com/photos/jsjgeology/albums/72157661979539290). Disseminated pyrite often occurs in bituminous coal beds.
Stratigraphy: Middle Mercer Coal, Pottsville Group, lower Atokan Stage, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: roadcut along the northern side Rt. 16, southern margin of Irish Ridge, west of the Rt. 16-Rt. 60 intersection, northwest of the town of Trinway, northwestern Muskingum County, eastern Ohio, USA (40° 09’ 12.95” North latitude, 82° 02’ 43.27” West longitude)
Armstrong brand cork pipe insulation with a black bituminous outer layer shown inside a vertical utility shaft. The bitumen layer was tested as non-asbestos, but a black asbestos sealant compound was identified along the insulation's seams that connect the sections together.
A real photo postcard showing miners at the Atlantic Coal Company's Mine, Boswell, Somerset County, Pa.
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
Debonding of the upper pavement layer from the bituminous pavement layer beneath can be clearly seen in this photo. See the cracking in the wheelpaths caused by heavy trucks climbing uphill...
On Thursday, Aug. 30 WSDOT contractor crews from Granite Construction added a final sealant layer to this stretch of highway north of Lynden on SR 539/The Guide. Crews had already done pavement repair, crack sealing and applied a preservation surface of oil and gravel to this area. Next up - striping!
"International Stop the Tar Sands Day 2011" protest at the Canadian High Commission, London.
A small group of environmental activists staged a vociferous protest this weekend outside the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square against the huge and devastating ecological damage being wrought on the pristine Boreal forests of Alberta in Canada by international oil companies extracting so-called Tar Sands in order to extract bitumen which is then refined - at a huge energy cost - into crude oil.
This protest was a part of "International "Stop the Tar Sands" day, which saw co-ordinated protests happening in 30 countries worldwide. The London action included the laying down of bunches and wreaths of dead flowers to represent the devastated Albertan boreal forest and ancient wilderness. A spirited choir of women entertained us with their rendition of "Sludge, Sludge, Glorious Sludge", and a symbolic environmental activist was tarred and feathered by Big Oil, representing the huge number of migratory and indigenous wildfowl which have been poisoned by the toxic waste in the water ‘tailings’ left behind by the extraction process. It is reported that some local species of wildlife in Alberta are in danger of becoming extinct in the region.
The Canadian Tar Sands ‘Mega-Project’ is slated to be the greatest environmental calamity in the World, eclipsing the destruction of rainforest habitats.
Deep under the boreal forests of Alberta lie 140,000 square kilometres of bituminous sand. Exploration continues all over Canada to find more, but already it is estimated that Canada has enough proven oil reserves to put it in second place behind Saudi Arabia in the oil producer's league table, and already the USA is Canada’s best customer. However... to get at the tar sands Canada is ripping up vast areas of this pristine forest, laying it to waste and leaving behind an immense toxic wasteland. Furthermore the extraction process is much, much more energy intensive to extract and requires very intensive refining, all of which produces, it is estimated, 3 to 5 times the usual amount of greenhouse gasses, consuming as it does a vast amount of natural gas and locally-sourced fresh water.
The right-wing Canadian government led by the pugnacious Stephen Harper has thrown open the doors to the massive - and destructive - exploitation of huge expanses of Canadian wilderness in the rush to put Canada into the global league tables of oil exporting countries, but environmentalists, ecologists and indigenous First Nation peoples are warning that the price of this extraction is having a terrible effect on local wildlife and on human health. Though not scientifically proven beyond any doubt, it has been reported that there has been an alarming increase in unusual cancers and birth-defects amongst local populations affected by the huge volumes of pollution released into the environment by the extraction and refining processes that, apart from requiring up to 200 gallons of fresh water to produce a single 40 gallon drum of bitumen extracted from the sand, leaves behind waste water is so toxic that it cannot be allowed back into the local eco-system, so it is stored in many huge 'tailing ponds' carved out of the local landscape.
Apart from the enormous volume of migratory birds and local wildlife which have already been fatally poisoned on these tailing ponds - and will continue to die in huge numbers for as long as tar extraction continues in Canada - it was always inevitable that the toxic tailings would seep into the local water table and eco-system. Overflows and breaches are happening with alarming regularity, seeing rivers, streams and the water table - on which everyone in those regions depends on - poisoned with sulphur compounds and heavy metals.
There has been, as previously mentioned, an increase in non-typical cancers and birth deformities which local populations blame on this highly polluting heavy industry. This is aside from the many very serious explosions and tragic industrial accidents at refining and extraction sites. This oil comes at a heavy price, so it seems.
It may come as no surprise that oil company internal investigations regularly give the oil companies a clean bill of health, and the Canadian government isn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, so rigorous independent government environmental impact assessment just isn't happening. The suffering local populations await costly independently commissioned scientific studies, which will be fought against tooth and nail by the legions of very expensive corporate attorneys employed by the oil companies who are allegedly accused of bullying, bribery and corruption and even physical intimidation in the region.
In an area with historically low employment, taking the Oil Companies' 30 pieces of silver is understandable but the problems don't just end there, as the multinationals have drafted in migrant and foreign labour to undercut wage bills, creating friction. The locals were promised jobs when the government and oil companies were flooding the region with propaganda and inducements, but now they have what they wanted they're not willing to pay good wages to the locals who now understandably feel betrayed. These armies of imported workers live weeks at a time in work camps in the remote wilderness, coming into the local towns during rest periods to let off steam. Alcohol and drug-related problems have followed the labour camps, causing havoc in local towns when the blue-collar workers come into town on furlough, and understandably many towns feel completely overwhelmed.
Conflict with the local First Nations is rampant; the oil companies are expanding the scale and pace of Tar Sands development way beyond what was originally promised. The bitumen extraction is under the jurisdiction of treaties that are supposed to ensure the First Nation lands are not taken from them by massive uncontrolled development, but that is exactly what is happening. The oil companies are wielding extraordinary power in the region and nobody from the Canadian government is paying any attention to the destruction of the First Nation peoples’ culture and way of life. Several First Nations are in direct conflict with federal and provincial governments over the cynical traducing of Aboriginal and Treaty rights and legal land title.
Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been engaged in an all-out propaganda and lobbying assault on the European Union, trying to make the EU Commissioners accept imported Canadian bitumen extracted from the tar sands as a part of the impending 'Canada-European Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement' (CETA), which if completed as planned threatens to completely undermine hard fought-for strong climate policies right across Europe, but dedicated campaigners and activists are fighting hard to prevent this and are engaged in a David and Goliath battle to have Canadian bitumen included in the 'Fuel Quality Directive' (FQD) which would effectively see the bitumen banned from Europe on the basis of the ecological damage the extraction is causing and the Carbon Intensity Caps invoked by the extremely high amounts of carbon content released by end product oil made from the Tar Sands.
However, perpetual aggressive lobbying and coercion by the Canadians is weakening the current initial draft of the FQD. The Canadians do not want any reference to be made to tar sands in the FQD – they want it treated the same way as conventional oil, despite its huge carbon intensity. To add further pressure in a diplomatic pincer movement, the Canadian government is hinting that it might pull out of CETA if the EU dares set a separate and higher value for tar sands oil in terms of carbon footprint in the FQD.
There are several informed and concerned European members of Parliament who agree with the environmentalists, and they have recently been responsible for passing a resolution in the European Parliament that the EU should not bow to Canadian and Oil Company pressure, and to reiterate their concerns about greenhouse gas emissions and environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands extraction, but this may only be a temporary bump in the road for the oil companies and the Canadians, who, having to watch their southern neighbours in the USA straddling the globe and flexing their military muscles in the interests of American business, desperately want the power and influence that always goes hand in glove with oil revenues, licensing fees and the albeit insultingly low rates of corporate taxation they will be levying on the oil companies.
CETA would give the major European multinationals Shell, Total and BP (who had promised ten years ago when they were desperately trying to re-brand themselves as being somehow "Green" that they wouldn't be joining in the rush to Canada), dramatic new powers by legislation which would give them a free hand to trample over the rights of indigenous peoples and undermine crucial social and environmental legislation in Europe and in Canada.
Under the proposed terms of CETA Investment Protections would be enshrined in law which could allow Canadian and European oil companies to force governments before completely unaccountable closed-door Trade Tribunals to settle disputes, including any attempt by the Canadian government to prevent the out-of-control rapacious expansion of the Canadian wilderness. In other words the oil giants would be free to ruin the entire eco-system for their personal profit, and then just walk away from the carnage once the very last drop of economically viable bitumen has been sucked out of the ground. It is this horrific scenario which motivates the campaigners.
UK Protests and direct actions simultaneously took place in London, Plymouth, Birmingham, Oxford, York, Bangor, Brighton, Norwich, Manchester and Bridport in Dorset.
For further reading on the Tar Sands campaigns, visit www.no-tar-sand.org, oilsandstruth.org or stoptarsands.eu
All photos © 2011 Pete Riches
Do not reproduce, alter or reblog my images without my permission.
Bituminous coal from the Pennsylvanian of the American Midwest. (5.5 cm across)
Sedimentary rocks form by the solidification of loose sediments. Loose sediments become hard rocks by the processes of deposition, burial, compaction, dewatering, and cementation.
There are three categories of sedimentary rocks:
1) Siliciclastic sedimentary rocks form by the solidification of sediments produced by weathering & erosion of any previously existing rocks.
2) Biogenic sedimentary rocks form by the solidification of sediments that were once-living organisms (plants, animals, micro-organisms).
3) Chemical sedimentary rocks form by the solidification of sediments formed by inorganic chemical reactions. Most sedimentary rocks have a clastic texture, but some are crystalline.
Coal is a carbon-rich, biogenic sedimentary rock. It forms by the burial and alteration of organic matter from fossil land plants that lived in ancient swamps. Coal starts out as peat (see elsewhere in this photo album). With increasing burial and diagenetic alteration, peat becomes lignite coal, sub-bituminous coal, and then bituminous coal (see above). Bituminous coals tend to break and weather in a blocky fashion, are relatively sooty to the touch, and are harder & heavier than lignite coal (but still relatively soft & lightweight). Slightly discernible plant fossil fragments may be present on bituminous coal bedding planes - sometimes in abundance. Bituminous coals commonly have irregular patches of shiny, glassy-textured organic matter (vitrain).
Cannel coal from the Pennsylvanian of eastern Ohio, USA. (cross-section view; field of view 5.2 centimeters across)
Cannel coals are odd varieties of coal. They don’t have the look & feel of ordinary coals such as lignite, bituminous coal, and anthracite. Cannel coals are lightweight, as all coals are, but are surprisingly tight and solid - they hold up to natural weathering pretty well, considering they’re coals. They are not sooty to the touch, and have conchoidal fracture (smooth & curved fracture surfaces). Cannel coals lack the well-developed horizontal bedding & laminations seen in lignites and bituminous coals, as is seen in this cross section view.
Not surprisingly, the differences in physical characterstics between cannel coal and other ranks of coal are due to the organic matter content. Cannel coals are composed principally of fossil spores (sporinite phytoclasts). Garden-variety coals are composed principally of a mix of altered fragmented plant debris that was originally woody tissue, leaves, bark, fungi, and spores. Cannel coals are generally interpreted to have formed in pond, lagoon, or channel facies within a larger coal swamp setting.
Stratigraphy: possibly the Bedford Coal (just below the Upper Mercer Limestone), Pottsville Group, lower Middle Pennsylvanian
Locality: attributed (probably) to Tunnel Hill, western Coshocton County, eastern Ohio, USA
--------------------
Stratigraphic & locality IDs from James Bradley.