Occupy Portland: Environmental activists march to protest crude oil pipeline

The march, called the "Hands Around Pioneer Courthouse March," targeted one conspicuous example of corporate avarice, TransCanada Corps. This Canadian company threatens to disrupt miles of habitat that will affect water quality for millions of people and impact the climate crisis with increased greenhouse gas emissions. On Saturday, November 6, 2011, downtown Portland was the site for this afternoon march organized by the Occupy Portland Protestors plus the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club, Oregon Interfaith Power & Light (OIPL), Climate Justice Portland, Cascade Climate Network (CCN), Oregonians for Renewable Energy Policy (OREP), Oregon Conservancy Foundation, 350.org, Tar Sands Action, and Friends of the Earth, to draw attention to the pending Keystone LX Project. Occupy Portland has been active and vocal in Portland, Oregon since October 6, 2011, as an extension of the Occupy Wall Street movement that has swirled into a world-wide swoosh of activism based on global frustration with corporate greed.

Those responsible for this proposal, TransCanada Keystone Pipeline, LP (Keystone) filed an application in 2008 with the Department of State for a Presidential Permit. All facilities that cross international US borders require a Persidential Permit. The Secretary of State decides if a project is in the national interest before granting it a Presidential Permit, and as part of this review process, an Environmental Impact Statement must be prepared consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). For assistance in preparing this EIS, the US Department of State Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs retained the Texas-based environmental consulting firm, Cardno ENTRIX. After conducting studies for three years, including consultations with this contractor, cooperating agencies, scientists and engineers, the final EIS was published August 26, 2011 and can be read here.

The project, called the Keystone XL project, proposes a 1,700-mile tar sands oil-carrying pipeline that will transport crude oil from Canada to Texas, scything through environmentally sensitive regions of Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Oklahoma to three delivery points in Oklahoma and Texas, for the purpose of refinement to meet market demands for heavy crude oil. The proposed pipeline that will traverse the above mentioned US states will cross the Missouri River, Yellowstone, and Red Rivers and also the Ogallala aquifer which is a key source of drinking and agricultural water for two million Americans.

According to the EIS, tar sands oil production emits triple the amount of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, than conventional oil production, due to more energy intensive extraction and refining processes. The 900,000 barrels of crude tar sands oil that are slated to enter this pipeline through the US on a daily basis can result in emissions that can irrevocably damage the planet. The EIS also states that potential geologic hazards from the pipeline construction include an increased potential for earthquakes, landslides and sink holes along the proposed route. Impact to soils includes soil erosion, loss of topsoil, soil compaction, contamination and damage to existing tile drainage systems. Water resources such as ground water aquifers along the route will be vulnerable to the oil spills and leaks that are an intrinsic hazard of such an operation as recent history on large-scale oil spills has already shown us.

EPA’s administrator Lisa Jackson stated in a July 2011 letter to the US Department of State after reviewing the latest environmental statement draft on the Keystone XL project that “potentially significant impacts were not evaluated and additional information and analyses were necessary…” for the decision makers and the public to be fully informed of the potential consequences of the Keystone XL project. Some of these concerns include the issues associated with the fate and transport of the crude oil during a spill. These concerns are heightened by the fact TransCanada’s I pipeline has experienced 14 spills within a year, and that TransCanada has already tried to cut down on safety measures by requesting a safety waiver to build the pipeline with a thinner-than-normal steel and to pump oil at higher-than-normal pressures.

Since the tar sands oil is viscous due to a high content of bitumen, it is treated with diluents that the State Department’s EIS says are proprietary compositions, which means they’re content is kept secret. According to the Jackson letter, “we believe the analysis of potential diluents is important to establish the potential health and environmental impacts of any spilled oil, and responder/worker safety and to develop response strategies.” She cites a recent spill in Michigan, where benzene, a volatile organic compound, was a component of the diluent. Since responders knew of this compound, the residents surrounding the spill site were safely evacuated due to prior knowledge of this benzene content, which was released in high concentrations in the air following the spill. In Northern Alberta, where the extraction of tar sands oil has been occurring for years, the communities that live downstream from tailing ponds (artificial ponds where the polluted oil from the extraction process is discarded), have shown increased rates of rare, fatal cancers, renal failure, lupus and hyperthyroidism.

Speaking at Howard University recently, Lisa Jackson said of the pipeline, that she is "concerned about additional greenhouse gas emissions from oil sands production; the possibility of leaks; and harmful emissions from refineries along the Gulf Coast. 'This isn’t a little tiny pipeline, this is a pipeline that cuts our country literally in half.'" This has become true both literally and on the political landscape, as the situation mounts growing pressure on the President and his advisors.

Besides the EPA, concerned people from everywhere, and environmental groups in the US and Canada, there are eight Nobel Peace Prize winners who have shown public support protesting the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. According to a letter to President Obama by South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his colleagues, “It would be wrong for humanity to choose a path that drives hundreds of thousands of species to extinction.” A leading climatologist, Dr. James Hansen wrote of the consequences if tar sands extraction is not halted. Hansen writes, “The carbon emissions from tar shale and tar sands would initiate a continual unfolding of climate disasters over the course of this century. We would be miserable stewards of creation. We would rob our own children and grandchildren.”

It appears that the combined voices of protest by the 99% concerned about protecting our natural sources of water and air have been heard. The building of the pipeline is now facing a delay, as President Obama told the media this week that he would need to weigh the recommendations by the State Department “in the next several months.” Jeff Jones and Andrew Quinn report in the latest November issue of Scientific American that TransCanada’s pipeline project is about “a year behind its initial schedule” due to the extended review process that the company has undergone to prepare environmental impact statements and wait for public comment. Apparently an extended delay might ultimately render the pipeline uneconomical to build, according to TransCanada Chief Executive Russ Girling.

Here’s a list of sites to become further informed on the Keystone XL Pipeline Project: