Tar Sands Spills: Over 1.5 million litres and still spilling!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Right now there's an environmental crisis going on near Cold Lake, Alberta. There are four ongoing, uncontrollable spills that have been occurring for months at a tar sands operation, causing bitumen to seep into the environment and up to the surface.

Currently, more than 1.5 million litres of bitumen has spilled from four sites managed by Canadian National Resources Ltd. (CNRL), and another 3,000 litres pours out every day.

To keep track of the ongoing damage, our friends at Greenpeace Canada have come up with this handy Cold Lake tar sands spill counter, which you can share or embed in your own website by visiting this page.

While the numbers on the spill counter continue to rise, many questions about the prolonged spill remain unanswered. What exactly is causing the spill? Why hasn't the company been able to stop it? What if there are other underground spills like this one, that are simply going unnoticed?

One thing we do know is that these spills are having a serious impact on local wildlife. According to a recent count by the Alberta Energy Regulator, the spills have so far resulted in the deaths of two beavers, 46 small mammals, 49 birds and 105 amphibians. If the spills aren't stopped soon, the impact on the region's wilderness and wildlife could get much, much worse.

Please share this page, or share the link to the counter at http://spill-widget.openwe.st/ and help us raise awareness about this environmental disaster!

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