“Building the refinery would have very large implications for B.C.’s green commitment,” said Jennifer Grant, director of the oilsands program at Alberta’s Pembina Institute.
“B.C. could potentially have to give up its green targets because [constructing the facility is] an intensive project with huge carbon footprints.”
Grant’s statement was in response to Victoria-based community newspaper tycoon David Black’s suggestion Friday that a $13-billion oil refinery be constructed in B.C. to process Alberta oilsands bitumen flowing in via Enbridge’s controversial Northern Gateway pipeline.
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Grant called Black’s remark an “oversimplification of potential risks,” but declined to comment in greater detail on the implications of a refined fuel spill versus crude oil because Pembina had not yet performed enough analysis on the issue. But she said the proposal to build the refinery fails to address environmental risks posed by Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline or the health and ecological concerns of first nations.
“You can certainly expect some localized water pollution,” said Karen Wristen, executive director of Living Oceans Society, a B.C. marine conservation group.
“But it’s the air pollution and [unintended emission leaks] that cause the most problems — like fugitive vapours, vapours that are acute poisonous, and carcinogens like benzene.”
A 2004 environmental impact study on the petroleum refining industry by U.S. non-profit National Center for Manufacturing Science, identified several ecological issues stemming from oil refineries.
The report cited air pollutants like volatile hydrocarbons, sulphuric acid, lead, and phenol as byproducts of the refining process. Waste water from desalting and distilling crude oil were also mentioned as environmental concerns, along with solid waste products in the form of desalter sludge and spent catalysts.
Wristen also expressed concern about a statement Black made that shipping refined petroleum has comparatively fewer risks in the event of a spill compared with crude.
“It’s just not true,” she said. “Refined fuel evaporates, but it doesn’t disappear completely.”
Two-thirds of processed light diesel oils will evaporate, Wristen explained, but the remaining third lingers on and often ends up washing ashore.
The contamination can last for generations and wreak havoc on wild species, she said. Oil spills in areas that affect intertidal zones — which are the shore sections visible at low tide and covered at high tide — pose a danger to plants and animals.
“It will cause the collapse of the bottom of the food chain,” Wristen said. “This will in turn cause a cascading effect on the rest of the chain from the bottom up.”
An oil spill risk assessment report put together by Applied Science Associates for the Washington state government in 2009 found that light oils had greater impact on shellfish and plankton than equal volume spills of heavy fuels and gasoline, while thicker oils had greater impacts on mammals and birds.
Original Article
Source: vancouver sun
Author: Michael V'Inkin
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