Keystone XL prelim? 230,000 People Told Not To Drink Their Water After Diesel Fuel Spill In Canada [View all]

[Ferd Berfel]

Last edited Fri Jan 16, 2015, 03:36 PM - Edit history (1)

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/15/3612298/longueuil-do-not-drink-water-diesel-spill/

The 230,000 residents of Longueuil, a city just outside of Montreal, Canada, have been told that their tap water is unsafe to drink following a diesel fuel spill that leaked into the water supply.

According to media reports, 7,400 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from a city-owned wastewater treatment center in Longueuil, apparently due to equipment failure. Canada’s CBC News reported that the spilled diesel made its way into the sewers from a generator, eventually flowing into the river that supplies drinking water to the city.

The city told its residents on Wednesday morning not to drink their tap water, but then told residents later that afternoon that the water was safe to drink, according to a report from Global News. Then, after reports that residents could still smell diesel in their water, the city on Thursday again put a “do not drink” advisory in place.

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When the Keystone XL pops (as ALL pipelines do), and they poison the Ogallala Aquifer the number will be 2.3 million Americans that cannot drink the water.

It is complete insanity to allow Keystone XL. I keep hearing about ‘Climate Change’ as the reason to not build this suicide machine. This is important for the long term (maybe not so long term) however, there are very immediate, and ‘hand-to-mouth’ reasons, for not allowing this stupidity. These are centered around Fresh Water. Specifically the Ogallala Aquifer

Fresh Water is a requirement for survival,
Canadian Oil is not a requirement for survival.
Profits of Corporations and Billionaires are not a requirement for survival.
A few temporary jobs and 35 permanent jobs is not a requirement either – sorry to the 35
ALL Pipelines leak.
The Ogallala Aquifer
Crosses 8 states
IS the Fresh Water supply for 82% of the 2.3 Million people in the area
27 percent of the irrigated land in the United States overlies and uses the aquifer
Is about 30 percent of the ground water used for irrigation in the United States
It would take hundreds to thousands of years of rainfall to replace the groundwater in the depleted aquifer. Certain zones of the aquifer are now empty; these areas will take over 6,000 years to replenish naturally through rainfall.
Once this aquifer is poisoned
30% of the crop production of the United States will end – permanently.
Millions of people will be forced to abandon these areas and relocate.

There are probably many additional points to be made here, but the ones listed should be more than enough to make any rational person just a bit nervous. It scares the shit out of me.