A group of Northeast Senators and Representatives, icluding all members from Vermont, delivered a letter today to President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry calling on the administration to require a new Presidential Permit and full Environmental Impact Statement for the reversal of the proposed Portland-Montreal tar sands pipeline. Representing the full House delegations of the states through which the pipeline would run, many more Congressional leaders, and three U.S. Senators, the signers of letter were: Senators Leahy, Sanders and Warren, and Representatives Pingree, Michaud, Shea-Porter, Kuster, Welch, Markey, Maloney, McGovern, Schakowsky, Rangel, Cohen, Tierney, Capuano, Grijalva, and Tsongas.
The 62-year-old pipeline, which runs between Portland, Maine and Montreal, Quebec via New Hampshire and Vermont, currently carries conventional crude oil. However, this plan would repurpose the aging pipeline to carry tar sands, which are more corrosive and must be pumped under high pressure and temperature, significantly raising the risk of spills and threat of contamination of our waterways. The production of tar sands generates three times more carbon pollution than conventional oil. Because the pipeline crosses the international border, the State Department should conduct an environmental review and require a new Presidential Permit. In 2008, when this proposal was first floated, the administration told the pipeline company that it would not require a new Presidential Permit. However, this unacceptable lack of public input, the high likelihood of a pipeline failure, the severe threat of a tar sands spill into water supplies, and climate impacts make a full environmental review and permit necessary.
"The Sierra Club applauds these Congressional leaders for drawing attention to the threat of toxic tar sands," said Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director. ‘ Tar sands are more likely to spill than conventional crude, and when they do, the damage is even more severe. After three years and nearly a billion dollars in spill cleanup costs, the Kalamazoo River today remains contaminated from tar sands. The Michigan communities whose air and water was poisoned may never fully recover from that disaster, and the oil company that lied to families and emergency responders about the nature of the spill and the toxicity of the tar sands has never been held fully accountable. No New England family should ever face this kind of risk for extreme oil that America does not need.’
‘ This is an important acknowledgement by many of our elected leaders of the threat of tar sands to our communities, our waterways, and our wildlife. We can’ t afford to risk that our precious places like the Connecticut River or the Androscoggin River could have a spill that could contaminate our waters for the foreseeable future,’ said Carol Oldham, National Wildlife Federation’ s Northeast Regional Outreach Coordinator. ‘ We thank every one of these signers for listening to the voices of the communities along the pipeline and the people who care about climate change, and for taking leadership on this important issue.’
‘ The public deserves an environmental review when pipelines start to carry tar sands,’ said Danielle Droitsch, NRDC Canada Project Director. ‘ Tar sands isn’ t the same conventional oil and brings more risks to water as well as to the earth’ s climate.’
The letter is available here.
Signers:
House:
Chellie Pingree (D-ME)
Michael Michaud (D-ME)
Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)
Charles Rangel (D-NY)
Steve Cohen (D-TN)
John Tierney (D-MA)
Peter Welch (D-VT)
Ann Kuster (D-NH)
James McGovern (D-MA)
Edward Markey (D-MA)
Michael Capuano (D-MA)
Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)
Niki Tsongas (D-MA)
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
Senate:
Bernard Sanders (I-VT)
Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
National Wildlife Federation 2.27.2013