The World's Dirtiest Oil: U.S. Tar Sands Threatens the American West [View all]

[Bill USA]

(emphases my own)
http://www.sierraclub.org/dirtyfuels/downloads/2012-06-TarSandsDomestic_FactSheet.pdf

Climate Disruption

Producing a barrel of tar sands oil generates three times more carbon emissions than producing a barrel of conventional oil. In the United States, growing interest in tar sands development, especially in the Western states, could increase U.S. greenhouse gas emissions from new tar sands projects from 27 to 126 million tons by 2015.

Water Quality, Water Supply

Tar sands extraction is extremely water-intensive. It takes three barrels of water to produce one barrel of oil.2 This decreases surface water flow, which can harm stream habitats for fish and other species that depend on local water supplies. [font color="red"]Less than 10 percent of the water used by tar sands extractions can be returned to its original source, while large amounts of contaminated wastewater must be discarded[/font]3. In Albertan tar sands developments, this toxic wastewater is held in massive tailings ponds that are large enough to be seen from space.

Wildlife and Human Health

These poisonous mining sites have harmful implications for human health and local wildlife. Local communities
near tar sand sites suffer higher-than-average rates of cancer and autoimmune diseases. For example, in some
areas near tar sands the number of cases of bile duct cancer is 30 percent higher than the national average.4
Tar sands developments also pose direct threats to bird populations that have historically used the area
for nesting and mating – the toxic tailings ponds are responsible for the deaths of an estimated 58,000 to
400,000 birds.5 In Alberta alone, the government has recorded the death of countless deer, moose, bear, and
other mammals in the areas surrounding the tar sands developments.
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