Toxic Tar Sands: Profiles From The Front Lines

7/28/2019 Toxic Tar Sands: Profiles From The Front Lines

1/18

TOXIC TAR SANDS:

PROFILES FROM THE FRONT LINE

Explore, enjoy and protect the planet


2/18

Mst AMcAns have never heard o

the Alberta tar sands, yet it is one o the largest

and most destructive projects on Earth. Tis

little-known industrial mega-project is creating anongoing environmental disaster in Canada, and is now

threatening to create one here in the United States.

ar sands oil is mined rom a black sticky substance

called bitumen, ound beneath the vast boreal orest

in Alberta, Canada. o extract tar sands crude, oil

companies clear-cut ancient orest, then strip mine the

soil beneath it, using huge quantities o resh water

and natural gas to separate the oil rom bitumen. T

process leaves behind giant toxic lakes that are linke

to abnormally high rates o cancer in neighborin

communities and are large enough to be seen rom space

But it doesnt stop there. Te oil industry is expandin

acilities to process this toxic oil here in the United State

through a network o reneries and pipelines. Public healt

in several states is under threat rom dramatic increases i

rening pollution, and massive pipelines are planned t

cross the United States largest reshwater aquier, whic

supplies one-third o our nations agriculture.

2 TOXIC TAR SANDS: PROFILES FROM THE FRONT LINES


3/18

Tar SandS Oil POiSOnS Our air

Prceing tar and il releae plltant directly linked

t athma, emphyema and birth deect int American

cmmnitie. Becae tar and il i a heay, lw-qality rm

crde, it reqire extenie pgrading t be tranrmed int

el. Rening tar and crde create ar mre air plltin in

American cmmnitie that are already brdened with cancer

and pr air qality a a relt il indtry actiitie. Tar and

il cntain, amng ther txic metal, 11 time mre lr and

nickel, ix time mre nitrgen, and e time mre lead than

cnentinal crde il.1

Heay metal and plycyclic armatic hydrcarbn releaed

in tar and rening hae been linked t pre-natal brain damage.

Nitrgen xide, alng with latile rganic cmpnd releaed

in tar and rening are the principal cae mg and grnd-

leel zne. Expre t nitrgen xide i a direct cae

athma, emphyema and ther lng dieae.

With plan t triple rening and tranprtatin tar and by

2015, there i n qetin that air plltin and health prblem

in cmmnitie rm the Great Lake t the Gl Cat will

increae.

Tar SandS Oil COnTaminaTeSOur Clean WaTer

Tar and prdctin wate and cntaminate tremend

amnt water. Eery barrel il prdced reqire r

barrel water. In thi prce, water i pmped int txic wate

reerir large engh t be een rm pace. The mercry, lead

and arenic in tar and wate threaten hman health, een at

mall leel expre. Already, cmmnitie dwntream rm

tar and mine in Canada reprt 30 percent mre incident rar

bile dct cancer than the wh d nt lie near the tar and.2

Expanded reliance n thi dirty il wld pt imprtant

American water rce at rik. Canadian pipeline cmpanie

crrently perate 1,900 mile il pipeline in and arnd the

Great Lake waterhed, which pplie 25 millin peple with

drinking water.Tar and il cntain eleated leel many knwn carcingen

and txin. In a recent tdy, tar and watewater tailing rm

extracting il were nd t cntain ammnia, benzene, cyanide,

phenl, tlene, plycyclic armatic hydrcarbn, arenic,

cpper, lphate, and chlride.3 Many thee chemical are

highly txic and knwn t cae cancer, and reglarly leach int

grndwater rm the maie lake ed t tre tailing.4 Thee

chemical are preent in tar and il bere and ater prceing,

and will end p in American grndwater when pipeline leak.

Communities in Alberta have long been speaking

out about the damage tar sands poses to their health

through water and air pollution. Now, Americans rom

Minnesota to Houston are worried about Canadas tar

sands expansion poisoning their water, destroying their

armland, and contaminating their air.

Here, we prole thirteen people rom across North

America whose health and livelihoods are at risk as a

result o toxic tar sands expansion.

PHoTo: DAvID DoDGE, PEMBINA INsTITuTE


4/18

M A ng, says George Poitras, amember o the Mikisew Cree First Nation in FortChipewyan, Alberta. His community, situated just downstreamrom the vast toxic moonscape o tar sands development in Alberta,has absorbed some o the worst damage rom the project.

Te extraction o oil rom Canadas tar sands is having adevastating impact on our indigenous people, Poitras says.

Studies have ound levels o mercury, arsenic, lead, and othertoxins at elevated levels near the areas tar sands excavation sites.5Tese chemicals are known carcinogens and cause the types o rarecancersincluding cancer o the bile ductsthat are on the riseamong members o the Fort Chipewyan community.

Statistically, bile duct cancer normally occurs in one out oevery 100,000 people. But a study by the Alberta Cancer Boardconrmed these cancer rates at Fort Chipewyan are 30 percenthigher than average.6

Poitras has been on a mission to raise awareness about the harmuleects o tar sands development on his communitys healtheversince 2006, when Fort Chipewyans general physician, Dr. JohnOConnor, went public in the press about the unusual cancers

among the patients he served.

For the past our years, Poitras has been spreading the wordabout the risks o tar sands oil at colleges and universities, publicorums, and even at oil companies annual meetings. He and otherindigenous activists have collaborated on documentary lms aboutthe tar sands that have been shown in lm estivals around the

world.Te damage rom the tar sands isnt restricted to Fort Chipewyan

or even to Alberta, he says. Tere are pipelines that leak oil, andtar sands rening is a huge contributor to global greenhouseemissions. We call the tar sands bloody oil.

Tar SandS are deSTruCTive aT every STage Of Their lifeCyCle, rm the

raaged breal ret Nrthern Canada t the chked cmmnitie in rening

crridr acr America. Bt the indigen cmmnitie liing clet t the land

bear pecial witne t it detrctin. Tribe hae pken t n the tll tar and

hae taken n their ancetral land and the water and wildlie that pprt their

cltre and cmmnity. Thee are the trie prminent tribal actiit and their

trggle againt the deatating tar and.

THE HEART OF THE TAR SANDS:

A BgHt n nAtV cMMUnt


My people are dyi.


geore oiraMikisew Cree First Nation,Fort Chipewyan, Alberta

PHoTo:GEoRGEPoITRAs


5/18

ABtH sHMAn has been ghting contamination

rom tar sands oil pipelines or years. Known in her communityby her Ojibwe name, Blue Sky Woman, Sherman is a member othe Leech Lake Band o Ojibwe in Minnesota.

Te Leech Lake Ojibwe have always lived on the piney marsheso their ancestral lands. It is no surprise they value water deeply ontheir reservation in the land o ten thousand lakes.

Between our lakes and our wetlands, the Leech Lake Reservationis 70 percent water. Our greatest concern is our water, saysSherman.

Enbridge Inc., the largest tar sands pipeline operator in Canada(and the company behind the massive Kalamazoo pipeline spillin Michigan in 2010), pumps its toxic products south directlythrough Leech Lake lands.

Over the last several years, oil spills rom pipelines owned oroperated by Enbridge have leaked multiple times, spilling toxiccrude rom Albertas tar sands and threatening the communitys

water.Some o Enbridges pipes have been in the ground or 60 years,

and tribal members tell o corroded pipes protruding rom theground, cracked and seeping oil. In 2010, three spills occurredin our months within a 35-mile radius o the tribal boundaries,all rom pipelines owned by Enbridge. One o the spills was notdetected until the oil-coated marsh accidentally caught on re;tribal members had to alert the company. It remains unclear howmuch oil leaked into the surrounding water.

Sherman says these are just the most recent events in an ongoingenvironmental tragedy or her community.

raditional areas or gathering sage on the reservation have beendestroyed by pipelines. For centuries, the Ojibwe have relied onthese sacred medicinal plants, but pipelines buried directly in

critical wetlands have all but

eliminated them rom thelocal ecosystem. esting by thetribal resource managementdivision revealed contaminantsin wells on the reservation,and conrmed a large crudeoil plume stretching towardshomes in the community.

Te two major aquiers inLeech Lake are part o a

watershed that eeds theheadwaters o theMississippi River.

Tis isnt just aLeech Lake issue,Sherman explains.We are holders othe headwaters othe Mississippi. I our Mississippi River headwaters are pollutedby tar sands, everything in the rivers path down to the Gul oMexico will be contaminated.

Sherman is now leading a legal battle against the Enbridgepipeline running through the Leech Lake Reservation. She andthree other plaintis have asked or a temporary restraining orderto stop construction o a new tar sands pipeline through their land.Despite the plans or new construction, there is still no remediationplan or the existing spills that have polluted the tribes water. Teirlawsuit remains in appeals status.

Meanwhile, Sherman says, Te oil is still there, the water is stillcontaminated, and the damage is still done.

ur reae oeri our waer.

lizabeh shermaLeech Lake Band of Ojibwe,Minnesota

PHoTo:ELIzABETHsHERMAN


6/186 TOXIC TAR SANDS: PROFILES FROM THE FRONT LINES

Knt McK arms wheat and corn in the prairiegrasslands o South Dakota.Moeckly and his neighbors rely on a rural water system that

draws rom the James Aquier, sourced just north o his arm.Tis aquier lies in sandy, permeable soil. But now a massive tarsands pipeline runs right through Moecklys arm and the aquier,putting his communitys only source o water at risk.

Tis oil artery, known as the Keystone I, is ransCanadas maintar sands oil pipeline into the United States. It provides a taste o

what would come i ransCanada is allowed to more than doubleits toxic capacity with the Keystone XL pipeline.8

Moeckly says pipeline consultants didnt even survey his landbeore they reported it as low consequence status, which allowed

ransCanada to buildthe Keystone I throughthe aquier in 2009,using thinner pipe andhigher pressure than

in The Wake Of The BP Oil diSaSTer in The gulf, many peple are thinking

mre abt where we get r il, and at what ct. A at netwrk il pipeline

cricre r cntry, ping a largely erlked threat, epecially in the rral

area America breadbaket. Many pipeline are already pining water and land

thrght the cntry, with er 2,500 pill rm pipeline ccrring in the lat

decade alne.7

The prped Keytne XL pipeline wld make the itatin mch wre.

The pipeline wld carry txic tar and il acr nearly 2,000 mile American

armland rm Mntana t the Gl Cat. Thee are the trie American armer,

rancher, and landwner that lie with the txic threat pipeline pill and tar

and cntaminatin, preent and tre.

any other pipeline beore it.When armers in the area requested thicker pipe to reduce the

risk o water contamination, their concerns went unheeded.ransCanada absolutely ignored us. Tey plowed on through,

Moeckly says.Moeckly never wanted the pipeline to come through his

land. Despite aggressive pressure rom the company, he resistedsigning ransCanadas initial oers. But in South Dakota,eminent domain laws do little to protect landowners rom large

corporations. A oreign company like ransCanada can seizeprivate property i negotiations all through.

Faced with the prospect o losing his land, Moeckly elt he hadno choice. He nally agreed to allow the pipeline in, and acceptthe threats rom tar sands oil.

Moeckly says companies like ransCanada turn neighbor againstneighbor in their eort to get their projects built. Tey will tellyou that you are the last one on the block and holding thingsup, he says.

Ke MoeklyBritton, South Dakota

My familywill be liviwih hi foreeraio.


sn nsn AMcAs HAtAn


7/18

Moeckly ears the long-term impacts o the pipeline on his landand crops, but knows it is too early to tell what the ull extent othe damage may be. Te only evidence he has o the buried pipe isthe mess construction crews let behind. Debris and soil moundsstill litter his land, leaving large standing pools throughout hiselds. He estimates about teen acres o his property are nowuseless.

Its dead land now, he says. Its a lake.But its the uture threat o pipeline spills and water contamination

that worries him most. My amily will be living with this orgenerations, he says. Te threat will never disappear.

Bn gtscHA eels a deep, physical sense o connectionto his amilys ranch near Atkinson, Nebraska. He becameinvolved in the ght to save the place he loves in April, when he

heard o public hearings or a tar sands pipeline coming throughAtkinson. When he went to the hearing, he saw the pipeline wouldcross Holt Creek just a ew miles rom where it ows through themiddle o the Gotschall ranch, and lie directly in the sensitive sandhills and the precious Ogallala Aquier. Now his greatest ear is thathis amilys creek and the Ogallala aquier that supplies Nebraska

with nearly all o its water will be threatened rom toxic pipelineleaks like the Kalamazoo River oil spill in July.

His is the ourth generation to work and live on his amilys land.oday, the Gotschalls raise organic, grass-ed bee and dairy cowson their ranch nestled along the banks o Holt Creek in the scenic

Sand Hills o Nebraska.Te 30-year-old rancher has become an outspoken opponent o

the Keystone XL pipeline. Gotschall is motivated by his strongsense o place. He loves Nebraska and the rolling hills where hegrew up.

Because his amily does not own land directly on the KeystoneXL route, they have no legal recourse to protect their ragile aquierand creek rom the pipelines permanent threat.

Gotschall knows organic armers must pay particular attentionto soil and water quality, and Nebraskas crystal aquiers andunspoiled grassland are vital to his way o lie.

Tis pipeline goes against the whole oundation o organicarming, he explains. All we have out there is grass and water.Tats how we make our living.What most upsets Gotschall is that arming livelihoods in

Nebraska are being threatened just so a oreign oil company canmake more money. Instead o building more pipelines, Gotschall

would like to see Nebraskas wind energy harnessed. Nebraskahas the sixth highest wind energy potential in the country, andpresents a signicant opportunity or good Nebraska jobs.9

We need to do things that put money in Nebraskan pockets, notoreign corporate pockets, he says.

Be gohallAtkinson, Nebraska

thi pipelie

oe aai

he whole

foudaioof orai

farmi.

PHoTo:TIMMysAMuEL,

sTARBELLsTuDIos.C

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HA Bnntt will tell you he is no hydrologist, buthe knows whats at stake when it comes to water quality inhis Kansas town. A 32-year resident o Marion County in Kansas,Bennett is a grain marketer or the Organic Grain Producers

Association, representing hundreds o armers in several states. He

is also the owner o a small amily arm crisscrossed by the SpringBranch Creek and riparian wetlands bordered by ransCanadasKeystone Cushing extension, which will soon unnel dirty tarsands crude to Oklahoma.

Bennett arms his land organically, raises black walnut trees,and diligently maintains the riparian wetlands along his sectiono creek. He believes the preservation o this wetland habitatprotects his arm rom powerul creek oods, and helps puriy thegroundwater his amily and arm survive on. Tey draw all wateror household use, livestock, and crop irrigation rom two wells ontheir property. Te wells are their only source o resh water.

But now Bennett is worried about his amilys water.ransCanadas pipeline directly threatens his wells and wetlands

with contamination rom tar sands crude.Tis summer, Bennett regularly walked to the 20-oot hole where

huge bulldozers bored a deep passage or the pipeline under therailroad that orms his western property boundary. Over a periodo many weeks, he observed a crew pumping out what he thought

was rainwater rom the construction pits, but his visits to the siterevealed the holes would rell every evening with the same clearblue water that lls his wells.

Bennett now believes the pipeline lies directly in the groundwaterhe relies on or his arm.

But because the pipeline does not physically cross his land, Mr.

Bennett had no say in its construction. When Spring Branch Creekooded in June, it washed out a construction bridge, gouged deeperosion in the banks, and sent pipeline construction debris washingup into the woods on his property.

Tey do it the cheapest way they can with very little thought toramications downstream, Bennett says.

Te Enbridge Michigan spill in July gushed one million gallonso toxic crude into the Kalamazoo River beore any leak wasdetected, and Bennett knows he now aces similar threats rom the

Keystone pipeline. Te pipeline is in direct contact with the watertable his amily and his community rely on. Any leak or ruptureo the pipeline would immediately contaminate their only clean

water source.Tis pipeline is a ticking time bomb, Bennett says. A leak

would take seconds to poison the land Ive lived o or thirty-twoyears.

t As Ag, David Daniel was surprised to hearrom his neighbor o survey crews trespassing on his propertynear the east exas town o Winnsboro.

ransCanada was beginning work or the Keystone XL tar sandspipeline, slated to run the length o Daniels land, cutting it in hal.Daniel wasnt told about the pipeline beore the survey crews

showed up, but laws in exas do little to protect landowners romcorporations like ransCanada.

Now, Daniel is worried about the pipeline destroying wetlandhabitat and threatening springs and creeks. Hes spoken with waterexperts who say the construction o the pipeline could oreverdamage the natural water supply in the area.

Daniel bought his land specically or its lush resources with theintention o preserving it; 20 acres o 100-year-old trees, wetlands,

wildlie and spring-ed creeks were to be his amilys sanctuary.

Harry BeeMarion County, Kansas

A leak wouldake eodo poio helad ve livedoff for hiry-wo year.PH

oTo:HARRyBENNETT



9/18

Our intention was to preserve our land as a legacy or ourdaughter, he says. We never dreamed that we would live to seeany part o it destroyed, especially by a oreign oil company.

Soon ater the surveyors came through, Daniel received severalintimidating letters rom ransCanada. Ten, land agents weresent to his home, pressuring him to sign contracts he was not giventime to read. Fearing he would lose his land completely, Danieleventually signed an easement agreement.

But he hasnt given up. Now, Daniel is stepping up his ghtto protect property owners rom being orced to endure theunacceptably high risks tar sands pipelines pose to their land.wo thousand ve hundred and ty-our pipeline spills occurredbetween the years 2000-2009 alone, and Daniel knows a pipelineleak is not a question o i, but when.14 He is organizing witharmers and landowners rom Nebraska to exas to inorm othersabout the risks toxic pipelines pose, and the threat his amily isnow orced to live with.

My amily will be orced to live in ear and physical danger othis pipeline with some o the most toxic stu weve ever seen comethrough this state. Tis is our home and was supposed to be a sae

place to raise our daughter, and now its at risk or an oil disaster.

avid aielWinnsboro, Texas

thi i our home ad wa uppoed o be

a afe plae o raie our dauher,

Kstn X nThe Keytne XL i the latet planned expanin in

TranCanada web txic il pipeline, deigned

t increae r dependence n the wrld dirtiet

il r decade t cme.

1,980 Mils ili saig t widt t US.1

Will ss six stats, m Mtaa t Txas

A bal ta sads il dus u t 3 tims as

mu glbal wamig lluti as vtial il.11

Ta sads il m t Kst XL ili will at

lluti quivalt t addig ugl 6.5 milli

assg vils t t ad, stutig

12 w al-d w lats.12

I w ias autmbil ul i b just 2.5

mg m ut stadads, w will sav m il

ta t Kst XL ili a vid.13

ad ow i a rik for a oil diaer.

Kalamaz Rier il pill Pht: Lca Ean r sierra Clb Michigan



. s nA, a retired proessor, lives a ewblocks rom Marathon Oil Companys renery in southeast

Detroit in the same house shes called home or ty-three years.Leonard has been ghting or environmental justice in hercommunity since 2003. Shes earned a reputation as a ormidableopponent to polluters.

Tere are dozens o polluting industries in Leonards zip code,and she works hard to rein in toxic emissions and protect publichealth in her neighborhood. But no issue has taken up more o hertime and energy than Marathons new rening expansiona $2.2billion upgrade to its acilities to increase the volume o tar sandscoming into Leonards community.

Despite opposition rom neighbors, the Marathon renerys

thi ar ad

reery bri

ille for mile

aroud...life a

we have kow

i will ever be

he ame.

r. olore eoardDetroit, Michigan

pollution is ballooning as more tar sands are processed in the

expanded acility.Leonard is not surprised that her neighborhood has been targeted

or processing the dirtiest orm o oil in the world. Experiencehas taught her that the worst pollution usually nds its way tothe poorest communities. When you look at where detrimentalpolluting acilities are located, Leonard says, its always incommunities where there are poor people and people o color.

Leonard was determined to arm her neighbors in their ght toprotect air and health rom the growing tar sands threat. wiceshe helped bring in a toxicologist rom the Michigan Departmento Community Health to talk with residents o her communityabout illnesses related to living in the vicinity o oil rening, and

PHoTo:oLIvERBERNsTEIN

many COmmuniTieS SlaTed fOr Tar SandS refiningalready er the

diprprtinate brnt indtrial plltin and health prblem aciated

with chemical and petrlem rening. since renerie and heay indtry are

ten lcated in lw-incme cmmnitie, thee citizen hae the ewet rerce

aailable t deend their cmmnitie againt pllter. They pay the high health

ct that cme a a direct relt rm expre t indtrial cntaminant.

In cmmnitie arnd the Great Lake, tar and il i ent t renerie ed by

Enbridge maie Lakehead Pipeline netwrk, which i 1,900 mile lng and amng

TAR SANDS REFINERIES:

Utng AMcAs A



11/18

DeTroITS 48217 zIp coDe ha the dbi ditinctin being the mt pllted in Michiganand neighbring zip

cde in thwet Detrit accnt r e the ten mt

pllted area tatewide.16

Mre than 85 percent 48217 reident are Arican

American, and the median hehld incme i abt hal

the natinal aerage. sadly, bt perhap nt rpriingly,

pllting indtrie che t ictimize the cmmnitie

with the ewet rerce t reit. At latet cnt, thwet

.

Detrit ha 27 high-pllting acilitie.Nw, Marathn oil i expanding it maie Detrit

renery t prce mre tar and crde il rm Alberta.

The heay tar and crde, which cntain many impritie,

take ar mre energy t rene than cnentinal crde il,

and releae mre txin, heay metal, and carbn dixide

in the prce. The tll tar and rening will take n thi

cmmnity i cmpnded by the blight an indtry

already pining it peple.

COMMuNITy AT RISk:

RefineRies and Michigans Most polluted neighboRhood

Dermed h caght in pllted rier near tar and mine. Pht: Gerge Pitra

to explain how residents can le a oxic Release Inventory with

the EPA.More times than she can remember, Leonard has appeared beore

the Detroit City Council to protest the devastating impacts o tarsandsnot only on southwest Detroit, but wherever pipelinescarry tar sands crude oil.

Leonard has set up public hearings with the MichiganDepartment o Community Health to help inorm her neighborsabout the threats o processing tar sands oil.

Tere are so many health and quality-o-lie problemsresulting rom all the heavy industryand now tar sandsin theneighborhood, and you live with it every day, Leonard says. Tistar sands renery brings illness or miles around, along with stress

or residents who are watching it being built. Tey know thatalong with the structure comes the knowledge that lie as we haveknown it will never be the same. It gives one the eeling o beingtrapped and helpless.

the larget in the wrld.15 oer the mmer 2010, an Enbridge pipeline brt, pilling er ne millin galln

crde int a majr rier that w int Lake Michigan. Bt a greater, nging enirnmental diater take place

eery day in the rening cmmnitie ed by Enbridge pipeline, where air plltin damage reident health.I Canada tar and indtry i allwed t me rward with plan r maie expanin pipeline and

renerie, the itatin in thee cmmnitie will wren.

American liing near me the larget Midwet renerie, ch a the BP Whiting renery tide Chicag

and the Marathn renery in thwet Detrit, are already ering rm health cnditin like athma, and

ace greater air plltin a thee renerie expand t prce mre tar and crde. In sth Dakta, reident

are ghting the Hyperin renery, which wld prce tar and il in the heart the tate richet armland.

other, liing in Htn, ear ecalated air plltin i the Keytne XL pipeline i bilt.



tHsA AnUM still lives on the same block whereshe was born in southwest Detroit, surrounded by an industrialhub o polluting industries, with smokestacks and chemical tanks

just a chain-link ence away rom backyards and parks. Many othe Midwests largest petrochemical reners, including the massiveMarathon renery, are Landrums not-so-riendly neighbors.Landrum believes the reneries are responsible or the cancerand illness in her amily and neighborhood, and the problem willbecome worse as the Marathon renery expands to process more tar

sands crude, which contains more pollutants.A trained journalist, Landrum stopped working ull-time in the

early 1990s to help her mother when she was diagnosed with cancer.My mom had our dierent cancers, Landrum says. First she

had cancer o the throat, then the ace. In 1986 she was diagnosedwith lung cancer but survived. Ten she developed cancer o theother lung and died in 1996.

Landrums athera one-time Marathon Oil employeealso diedo cancer. Landrum is convinced that the toxic environment o herneighborhood contributed to their illnesses and subsequent deaths.

en people on my block have died o cancer in the last decade,Landrum explains. We have a lot o pneumonia, tooone o mybrothers died o itand lots o asthma. All the little kids in the house

across the street have asthma, and their ather just died o cancer.

Landrum was horried when Marathon announced plans tobuild a $2.2 billion expansion to process tar sands crudethe

worlds dirtiest oil.When we ound out Marathon was bringing in nasty tar sands

rom Canada, my rst reaction was Lord have mercy. Where canwe go?

She started researching what kinds o chemicals would be emittedby the new tar sands acility and the eects they can have on humanhealth. We ound terrible things. Carcinogens, carbon monoxide,benzene and toluene, which harm the nervous system, methyl ethylketone, which can cause blindness. A lot o really bad stu.

Landrum began attending community meetings and blockmeetings, and talking to anybody who would listen about theincreased pollution coming rom tar sands rening.

In 2007, Landrum hersel was diagnosed with cancer. Whileundergoing chemotherapy and radiation, she continued to attendDetroit City Council meetings to protest the tar sands expansion othe Marathon renery. Tat ght was lost.

Landrums cancer is now in remission, although a recent chest

x-ray showed severe damage to her lungs, and she is undergoingtests to determine the cause o an enlarged thyroid and a goiter inher neck. Undaunted, she continues to ght to stop tar sands oilrom urther poisoning her home.

Landrum says the toxic tar sands expansion has let many o herneighbors ready to give up. Pushed beyond their limits by everincreasing tar sands pollution, some are considering suing thecity and Marathon or money to relocate away rom their ravagedenvironment.

Sometimes, Landrum says, it seems like these companies putdollars above human lie.

JAcK sMtH has lived in Detroit since 1967, watchingher neighborhood slowly deteriorate under the shadow othe Marathon Oil Renery, which is now preparing to processadditional tar sands crude.

Te sharp winds o the Midwest blow Marathons toxic umesright over Smiths homeumes she believes have caused heramilys health problems.

My middle son had nose bleeds when he was a child. Te doctorsaid it was rom benzene, she says. Benzene is a potent humancarcinogen.

My husband has asthma and emphysema, hypertension, andsleep apnea. My sinuses were purple like Id smoked all my lie and

Ive never smoked. You should hear my voice in the morning. Im

therea adrumDetroit, Michigan

PHoTo

:RHoNDAANDERsoN


he we foud ou Maraho wa

brii i ay ar ad from caada,

my r reaio wa ord have mery.

here a we o?


13/18

gagging. Tis has been going on or over 10 years.Smiths husband, Robert, is rustrated with public hearings

where ocials seem to turn a dea ear to community complaintso pollution and poor air quality. But she is more optimistic.Expert air quality monitors were recently called in to assess theneighborhoods air ater Smith and her neighbors called attention

to poor monitoring practices in her area. Te independent testsshowed major discrepancies with the states results, indicatingtoxins in her community were even higher than reported.

[Marathons] renery is too near to local schools, Smith says.When you go into someones house and smell the chemicals, why

would you want to stay here?Children in Smiths neighborhood will be exposed to increased

levels o airborne toxins rom Marathons tar sands expansion,urther exacerbating respiratory and other illnesses alreadyprevalent among children in her neighborhood.

ar sands oil is more toxic than regular oil, so what kinds oeects will that have on children already suering rom asthma?Smith wonders. Teyre killing a community.

cAn MAsHs house in Whiting, Indiana, justsoutheast o Chicago, sits within walking distance o both LakeMichigan and the BP Whiting Renery. One is beautiul and theother, Marsh says, looks like a death trap zone. Now BP is pushingto expand the capacity o its renery to process tar sands crude.

Te synthetic heavy crude produced rom tar sands is laden withmore toxins than conventional oil. I the expansion goes through,people like Marsh, who live in the shadow o these reneries, willace increased exposure to heavy metals, sulur, and carcinogens likebenzene.

Ater learning o BPs plans to pump tar sands pollution into theair and her community, Marsh was galvanized to action. She joineda legal challenge to the oil giants air permit.

Marsh believes BPs permit application dramatically underestimatesthe potential air pollution rom their tar sands expansion. Tecompany understated the amount o toxic gases vented rom ares,

theyre killi

a ommuiy.

Jakie smihDetroit, Michigan

caroly MarhWhiting, Indiana

claiming they would only be released occasionally. But aring willonly increase as the renery handles more o the worlds dirtiest oil.17

Flaring is only one part o the renerys massive polluting process,and air pollution is not the only threat that Marsh ears rom thetar sands expansion.

Lake Michigan, which provides drinking water or 10 millionpeople, will be exposed to new levels o contamination romparticulate emissions and huge increases in ammonia and otherdischarges into the water rom the renerys tar sands expansion.18,19Te renery is already one o the largest sources o mercury

pollution in Lake Michigan.20 Mercury is a potent neurotoxin thatcauses severe etal damage, impaired motor unction, and kidneyand respiratory damage in humans.21

ar sands crude spells disaster or clean water in every step o itslie cycle. I tar sands operations continue to expand in America,Lake Michigan will be exposed to the same types o contaminationspreading through the once pristine water sources along the

Athabasca River in Alberta, where tar sands are mined.A recent study published by leading Canadian scientists ound

elevated concentrations o toxic heavy metals including arsenic,lead and mercury around and downstream rom tar sands miningoperations, suggesting a strong correlation between tar sandsmining and toxic discharges to water resources.22 Tese poisonous

impurities are released in rening as well, and discharges romBPs tar sands expansion will bring the pollution o the Athabascadirectly to Lake Michigan.

Marsh believes the citizen struggle to stop the tar sands expansionis her communitys best line o deense, and she has committed tothe ght. She has little aith in state regulators, whom she believesare too complicit with toxic conditions created by BPs renery.Marsh knows whats at stake.

We dont want Lake Michigan to become another oil industrysacrice zone. Quality o lie here in Indiana should not suer ororeign oil prots, she says.

Qualiy

of life here

i diaa

hould o

uffer for

forei

oil pro.

PHoTo:RHoNDAANDERsoN



Hn JUAn AAs moved to Eastwood, a

neighborhood along the Houston Ship Channel, one othe rst things he noticed was the proximity o local schools to thevast array o reneries and power plants that line the ship channel.Many o the reneries process tar sands oil rom Canada. Quicklyrealizing the scope o this toxic threat, Parras began a personalcrusade to ght or better air.

Parrass community, a primarily Latino, low-income area alongthe Houston Ship Channels industrial corridor, is home to severalo the nations most polluted schools.23

Tis is the targeted destination o the Keystone XL pipeline,where more than 90 percent o the heavy, sulurous tar sandscrude will be rened. An additional 900,000 barrels o tar sandsevery day will urther poison this community i the Keystone XL

pipeline is built.Te massive network o reneries along the ship channel is one

o the only places in North America with the industrial capacity tocreate uel rom the tarry sludge o bitumen owing rom Canada.Consequently, it is already one o the worst public health zones inthe nation.A study done by the University o exas and the city o Houston in

cooperation with the EPA targeted twelve hazardous air pollutantsgenerated by petrochemical rening; all twelve chemicals registeredpresent in Parrass community. Eight are known carcinogens, and

registered at elevated levels.24

Parras sees the tragic maniestations o these chemicals in thechildren o his community.

A lot o kids are getting leukemia. You have a 56 percent greaterchance within a two mile radius o the Houston Ship Channel ocontracting leukemia says Parras, reerring to the EPA study.With Houston reneries planning to process an additional

900,000 barrels o the worlds dirtiest oil every day rom theKeystone XL pipeline, rates o pollution and disease in the areacan only be expected to increase.At public EPA hearings, Parras and citizens rom the ship

channel area testied that rening tar sands would unairly burdenresidents who already suer rom the oil industrys pollution.

Despite the toxic environment created by the oil industry,

Parrass community is rmly rooted, and many eel it is a homeworth ghting or. Once you develop a sense o community itshard to leave. Even in the ace o pollution it is dicult to breakup culture.Yet the massive petroleum rening corridor in their backyard

takes its toll on many, and rates o diseases associated with exposureto petrochemical manuacturing are high. ar sands are the lastthing ship channel residents need.

Your body gets used to the smells, Parras says, but not the

eects.

our body e

ued o he mell

Jua arraHouston/Port Arthur, Texas

bu o he

effe.PHoTo:JuANPARR

As



15/18

cAn HAKnss lives on an historic homestead inUnion County, South Dakota, once rated among the top verural counties in America or quality o lie.

Tat changed when rumors o a gorilla coming to thecommunity began three years ago. Tat gorilla turned out to beHyperion, a tar sands processing plant that, i built, will be thesixth largest renery in the nation.

Hyperions tar sands rening threatens to destroy a bucolicarming community with massive industrial development,unprecedented levels o air pollution, and contamination o purelocal water supplies. Hyperions pollution permit application callsor nearly 7,600 tons o airborne toxins to be pumped into UnionCounty, including ammonia, sulur dioxide and volatile organiccompounds. Tis does not include the 19 million tons o carbondioxide the plant plans to emitmore per barrel than any otherrenery in the country.25

Te renery would draw ten million gallons o resh water a day

rom the Missouri River, but Hyperion has not told the communityhow it plans to treat the water it will contaminate or where it willbe disposed. Harkness worries the results could be devastating tothe ragile aquier that supports her arm.Whats more, Harkness and others suspect the slew o pollution

rom Hyperion will be just the beginning, as more heavy industrywould move in to support the unctions o the massive tar sandsrenery.When Hyperion realtors were buying land rights, they told

people there would be a one- to two-mile buer zone around theproject. Harkness says the realtors did not give details on the plant

itsel, yet they pressured landowners to sign away their land. Ateracquiring the land they needed, the developers changed their plansor the site.

Now, there is no buer. Te renery would be about 300 eetrom Harknesss ront door.When Harkness ound out where the plant would be located, she

was devastated. I remember standing there, eeling like someonehad slugged me in the stomach. I love this land so much. Tequiet, the brilliant stars at night, they could be gone orever.

For most armers, Harkness explains, land is their home, theirbusiness, their retirement and their heart. I Hyperion is built, therichest and best arms in South Dakota will be destroyed.

Te wooded pastures o the Harkness homestead sit on a hugeaquier, with the Brule Creek twisting through it. Discharges romthe massive operation would enter her water less than a quartermile upstream, contaminating the pristine water supply that hassupplied her arm since the pioneer days.

I Harkness and her neighbors lose their ght against Hyperion,she ears she will have to abandon her home to preserve her amilyshealth and continue her cherished, rural way o lie.

Where could we go? We are too young to retire and too old tostart over, she says.

Moreover, Harkness worries or her land because she believes shehas a responsibility to take care o the water and armland thathave sustained her amily.

Tis land belongs to God and it is our responsibility to save itor uture generations. It has treated us well, she says. We needto return the avor.

f Hyperio

i buil, he

rihe ad

be farm i

souh akoa

caroly HarkeUnion County, South Dakota

will bederoyed.

PHoTo:CARoLyNHARKNEs

s



cAB lives three miles rom the ootprint slated orHyperions tar sands oil renery. When he and his neighborsrst heard about the development, all they were told was that it

was or an undisclosed purpose. Tat got him worried.I they wont tell you what it is, its probably something you

wont like, Cable says.Once Cable learned that the development would be a renery

designed to process the dirtiest oil in the world, he sprang into

action, holding community meetings and organizing a communitygroup, Save Union County, to ght the project.

Hes lived in the area since 1969, and the last thing he wants tosee is the rolling hills o his arming community transormed intoan industrial sacrice zone.

Hyperions tar sands will destroy some o the best armland inSouth Dakota, Cable says. It will destroy hundreds o years oquality air and water.

Cable looked into emissions rom similar reneries in exas, andhe believes the toxic emissions estimated by Hyperion in theirpermit application are understated by nearly a actor o ten.According to their permit application, Hyperion plans to spew

a combined 3,000 tons o nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxideresponsible or smog and ground-level ozone, nearly 300 tons oammonia, over 800 tons o sulur dioxide (which causes acid rain),nearly 500 tons o highly carcinogenic volatile organic compounds,over 3,000 tons o asthma-inducing particulate matter, and more

America de nt need t pt it wn citizen and enirnment

at rik jt reign il cmpanie can increae their prt.

Intead acricing r drinking water, air, and armland t imprt

the wrld dirtiet il, we hld be ineting in clean energy.

Wind, lar, efciency meare, and a 21t-centry

tranprtatin ytem will help end r dependence n il and

tp detrctie prject like The Keytne XL pipeline. In act,

jt increaing r el ecnmy by 2.5 mile per galln will ae

mre il than the larget tar and pipeline can delier. 27

oil i a dirty and danger rm energyand tar and il

i craping the bttm the glbal il barrel. Fr decade, the il

indtry ignred tar and becae they are amng the dirtiet

and mt expenie el t prdce in the wrld. Bt intead

backing innatin t break r danger addictin t a

qickly anihing and txic rce, the il indtry want t lck

in r dependence n il r year t cme.

Fr American, the ct are t high and the benet are t

lw. We are a natin innatr, and expanding r reliance

n dirty tar and il repreent a hge tep backward in r

prgre tward a clean energy tre.

d cableUnion County, South Dakota

[the ar ad reery] willderoy hudred of year ofqualiy air ad waer.

than 19 million tons o carbon dioxide.26

Te emissions rom this single source will all but guarantee SouthDakotas ailure to meet the EPAs National Ambient Air Qualitystandards. Te microscopic soot particles that will be released bythe ton rom Hyperion are the most dangerous orm o particulatematter, capable o penetrating deep into the lungs, causingrespiratory disease and increasing risks o heart attacks.

Hyperion also intends to withdraw ten million gallons o water aday rom the Missouri River, but the company hasnt yet releaseda plan or what they will do with the wastewater once it has beenused to process the toxic tar sands oil.

Save Union Countys ght against the tar sands giant recently

made enormous progress. Based on a legal challenge that Cableand his neighbors led against Hyperion, the South DakotaDepartment o Environment and Natural Resources declaredHyperions permit application incomplete and denied Hyperionsinitial application to pollute Union Countys air. Cable says it willbe at least a year beore the project can move orward. Cable isproud that he and his neighbors were able to achieve this victoryin the ace o tremendous pressure rom the powerul and well-unded oil company.

For the moment Cable is taking a breath o clean air, but heknows Hyperions backers will not quit easily. Hes preparing or along ght ahead to protect Union County, and the recent victoryhas strengthened his resolve.

[Tey] thought they had a slam dunk, but we took a standto protect our home, Cable says. Tey didnt expect so muchresistance, but were committed to keeping Hyperion and tar sandsrom destroying our county.

cncUsnTheSe STOrieS rePreSenT juST a fraCTiOn Of The PeOPle WhO Suffer The True COSTS

of TAr SAnDS oIL. There Are MAny More peopLe WhoSe STorIeS reMAIn UnToLD.

PHoTo:

EDCABLE



17/18

CrediTS

Thi reprt wa created by the sierra Clb Dirty Fel Campaign. Fr mre inrmatin iit www.ierraclb.rg/dirtyel

auThOrS: Gabriel DeRita and Tm valtin deSign: BttleRcket Prdctin / www.bttlercketprdctin.cm

1 Benjamin J. Wakeeld. Te Environmental Integrity Project. Feeding U.S.Renery Expansions with Dirty Fuel. June 2008. http://bit.ly/b0Pto Web.

July 8, 2010. p. 4.

2 Chen, Yiqun, BMed, MSc, PhD. Cancer Incidence in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta1995-2006 Alberta Cancer. Alberta Health Services. Alberta Cancer Board

Division o Population Health and Inormation Surveillance, Feb. 2009. Web.18 Oct. 2010. .

3 Moorehouse, Jeremy, E.I.. Appendix One: Methodology and SampleCalculations. Te Pembina Institute. Te Pembina Institute, Dec. 2008. Web.

Aug 19, 2010. http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/documents/44671/44671E.pd.

4 Price, Matt. 11 Million Litres A Day: Te ar Sands Leaking Legacy.Environmental Deense . Environmental Deense Canada, Dec. 2008.

Web. Aug 19, 2010. http://www.environmentaldeence.ca/reports/pd/ailingsReport_FinalDec8.pd.

5 Kelley, Erin N., et al. Oil sands development contributes elements toxic at lowconcentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries. Alberta, CA: National

Academy o Sciences, 2010. Print. Proceedings o the National Academy oSciences 37.

6 Chen, Yiqun, BMed, MSc, PhD. Cancer Incidence in Fort Chipewyan, Alberta1995-2006 Alberta Cancer. Alberta Health Services. Alberta Cancer BoardDivision o Population Health and Inormation Surveillance, Feb. 2009. Web.18 Oct. 2010. .

7 Doyle, Jack, and Miguel Mejia. Assault on America: A Decade o PetroleumCompany Disaster, Pollution, and Prot. Ed. National Wildlie Federation.nw.org. National Wildlie Federation, 2010. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

8 Glick, Daniel. SAYING HOOKED ON A DIRY FUEL: Why Canadianar Sands Pipelines Are a Bad Bet or the United States. Ed. National WildlieFederation. boldnebraska.org. Bold Nebraska, 2010. Web. 18 Oct. 2010..

9 Wind Energy Potential. American Wind Energy Association Resources.American Wind Energy Association, 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

10 Jones, Jerey. ransCanada Pipeline Expansion May Cost C$7Bln. Reuters.Ed. Rob Wilson. Tomson-Reuters, 9 July 2008. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. .

11 Woynillowicz, Dan, Chris Severson-Baker, and Marlo Raynolds. Oil SandsFever: Te Environmental Implications o Canadas Oil Sands Rush. PembinaPublications. Te Pembina Institute, Nov. 2005. Web. 20 Oct. 2010. .

12 Irvin, Elizabeth. Keystone XL: By Any Metric, Te Wrong Choice or OurClean Energy Future. Washington, DC: Sierra Club, 2010. N. pag. PDF le.


14 Doyle, Jack, and Miguel Mejia. Assault on America: A Decade o PetroleumCompany Disaster, Pollution, and Prot. Ed. National Wildlie Federation.nw.org. National Wildlie Federation, 2010. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

15 Enbridge U.S. Operations. Lakehead System. Enbridge Energy, Inc., 2010.Web. 18 Oct. 2010. .

16 Mohai, Paul, Dr., Byoung-Suk Kweon, Dr., and Kerry Joy Ard. Air oxicsRisks and the School-Aged Population in Michigan. School o NaturalResources and Environment University o Michigan , 2010. Web. 21 Oct.

2010. .

17 Minority Sta Special Investigations Division, Committee on GovernmentReorm. Oil Reneries Fail to Report Millions o Pounds o HarmulEmissions. Prepared or Henry Waxman. U.S. House o Representatives,1999.

18 Lake Michigan. Ocial Website o the Wisconsin Department o NaturalResources. Wisconsin DENR, 13 Aug. 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. .

19 State o Indiana. Dept. o Environmental Management. State o IndianaDepartment o Environmental Management Authorization to DischargeUnder National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. By Bruno Pigott.Indiana Department o Environmental Management. N.p., 21 June 2007.

Web. 19 Oct. 2010. .

20 Hawthorne, Michael. BP Dumps Mercury in Lake. Chicago ribune[Chicago, IL] July 27, 2010, ribune Exclusive ed.: n. page. Web. 19 Oct2010. http://bit.ly/4AO0OG

21 Mercury Health Eects. Mercury. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,2010. Web. 21 Oct. 2010. .

22 Kelley, Erin N., et al. Oil sands development contributes elements toxic atlow concentrations to the Athabasca River and its tributaries. Alberta, CA:National Academy o Sciences, 2010. Print. Proceedings o the National

Academy o Sciences 37.

23 Evans, Dave, et al. Schools that Ranked the Worst. Special Report: TeSmokestack Eect: oxic Air and Americas Schools. USA oday, 2009. Web.19 Oct. 2010. .

24 United States. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A Closer Look at Air

Pollution in Houston: Identiying Priority Health Risks. By Heidi L Bethel,PhD, et al. EPA.gov. U.S EPA, 2006. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. .

25 State o South Dakota. South Dakota Dept. O Environment and NaturalResources. South Dakota Dept. O Environment and Natural ResourcesPrevention o Signicant Deterioration Air Quality Preconstruction Permit.By Steven M Pirner. Hyperion Energy CenterAir Quality Permitting. SouthDakota Department o Environment and Natural Resources, 15 Dec. 2008.

Web. 19 Oct. 2010. .

26 State o South Dakota. South Dakota Dept. O Environment and NaturalResources.South Dakota Dept. O Environment and Natural ResourcesPrevention o Signicant Deterioration Air Quality Preconstruction Permit.By Steven M Pirner. Hyperion Energy CenterAir Quality Permitting. SouthDakota Department o Environment and Natural Resources, 15 Dec. 2008.

Web. 19 Oct. 2010. .


ENDNOTES


18/18

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Toxic Tar Sands: Profiles From The Front Lines

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