Eastern Utah Will Be the New Alberta: 3 #TARSANDS Projects!
In October, 2012 Utah announced that the "first tar sand project" was approved. In November, 2012 the second tar sand project was approved.
Well, guess what. According the videos below, there is already tar sand extraction and processing in FULL SWING. WTF?
I researched to see if maybe there had been company name changes and/or mergers that might explain my discovery of 3 Tar Sand Projects in eastern Utah. I searched all three company names and found out that, in fact, there are 3 projects owned by 3 separate companies: U.S. Oil Sands of Alberta, MCW Energy Group, and Crown Asphalt Ridge LLC (aka CAR LLC)
On Page 27, from the 2012 Utah Environment Report:
On October 24, 2012, the Utah Water Quality Board concurred with an Administrative Law Judge to uphold the ground water discharge permit-by-rule issued for the U.S. Oil Sands PR Spring project in eastern Utah based on the documented absence of ground water in the project area to a depth of over 1,800 feet and the de minimis effect the project will have on ground water quality. A permit-by-rule was also issued to MCW Energy Group for an oil sands pilot project at Northwest Asphalt Ridge,AND a permit-by-rule is pending for the Crown Asphalt Ridge LLC oil sands project at Asphalt Ridge. Red Leaf Resources has applied for a ground water discharge permit for a proposed oil shale mining and hydrocarbon extraction project at the Red Leaf SITLA lease site located about 55 miles south of Vernal in Uintah County.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/02/14/1187222/-Eastern-Utah-Will-Be-the-New-Alberta-3-TAR-SANDS-Projects
I weep for this planet....
= new reply since forum marked as read
The Canyonlands acreage, the largest roadless tract in the lower 48 states, is currently managed by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Conservationists and the hikers, bikers and backpackers who flock to the southern Utah’s five national parks say that recreation is the “highest and best use” for this fragile area. Meanwhile, industries see the potential for a potash mine and tar sands development.
After a Utah state Senate committee hearing last week that was packed with conservationists and outdoors enthusiasts, the proposed resolution was referred to an interim committee for study. In conservative Utah, where many believe there is already too much protected land that doesn’t generate taxes for the state, the bill could have easily died, according to its author, Jim Dabakis, a Democratic state senator from Salt Lake City.
Mr. Dabakis, who won a special election in December, said he planned to propose to the federal government and Congress that 1.5 million acres around Canyonlands be protected from development while an unspecified amount of federal land in eastern Utah was turned over to energy development. “That way, we protect the land but still do right by the people of Utah,” he said.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/a-move-to-protect-red-rock-country-in-utah/
I'm more concerned about fracking, frankly.
