Indigenous Activists Living In “Chemical Valley” Disrupt Pro-Tar Sands Conference

Stop The Tar Sands – No Line 9 (The Media Co-Op)

by Amanda Lickers (Onondowaga Haudenosaunee) / Coalition Against Line 9

The impacts of industrial development in the area now known as Chemical Valley are deep. The relationship between the 63 petrochemical industries and the occupied lands they are on is not a coincidence. The devastating affects corporations like Imperial Oil, Enbridge and Polysar have had on the environment, through contamination and corporate irresponsibility disproportionately impact bordering, and downstream Indigenous communities such as Aamjiwnaang and Walpole First Nations. The SunCor Energy refinery alone is responsible for processing 85,000 barrels per-day of gasoline, kerosene, jet and diesel fuels.

The Aamjiwnaang & Walpole First Nations are across the U.S.-Canadian border from Port Huron, Michigan.

Vanessa Gray, an inspiring Anishinabe-kwe, community organizer and member of Aamjiwnaang First Nation successfully disrupted a pro-tar sands conference, in Sarnia, Ontario. During the conference, “Bitumen Adding Value: Canada’s National Opportunity”, Vanessa took over the stage while the keynote presentation was being given and unfurled a banner reading, “YOU ARE KILLING MY GENERATION”.

In the face of already environmentally devastating conditions in a political context of apartheid against Indigenous peoples, those already impacted by Chemical Valley now seek to say No to further industrial expansion – the proposed Line 9 reversal which will bring Tar Sands crude project much further East.

Taiwan outsourcing Pollution to Malaysia?

Taiwan’s protesters: Is Malaysia next?

After protest stalls giant petrochemical in Taiwan, plans are to build it in Malaysia

A long-running saga has come to the end for a US$12.8 billion attempt by the Kuokuang petrochemical company , which is owned by Taiwan’s 43 oercebt state-controlled CPC Group, to build a refinery for the production of petrochemical products such as ethylene, benzene, toluene and xylene. It is the victim of environmental protest. The government instead is now seeking to export its environmental problem to Malaysia.

In early July, the state-run oil refiner CPC Corp, without fanfare, signed an investment agreement with Malaysia’s Johor state government to build the integrated refinery and petrochemical plant in the village of Pengerang, Johor. Preceding the move was close to a decade of fierce environmental protest in Taiwan, forcing the island’s government to choose between major business interests on the one side and nature and health on the other.

Written by Jens Kastners. To read full article visit source as cross-posted from here

Weekend Round-Up of Disaster and Disorder

Oil leak in North Sea confirmed by Shell

Oil giant Shell was accused of being secretive on Friday over an oil leak from one of its platforms in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. Shell publicly reported the spill on Friday night, though it is understood that the company was alerted to a “light sheen” of oil on the surface of the water on Wednesday.

The company last night said it had “considerably reduced” the amount of oil leaking from the Gannet Alpha platform about 112 miles east of Aberdeen—but maintained a stony silence over how much was still escaping and how much had already escaped.  Read more about the spill here

Nigeria oil spills have created ecological disaster, Shell again at the forefront

After half a century of oil spills, Nigeria’s troubled Niger Delta is one of the most polluted places on Earth, and it could take $1 billion and 30 years to clean up the mess, according to a UN report released Thursday. Pollution from over 50 years of oil operations in the region has penetrated further and deeper than many may have supposed,” the report says. Some areas that seemed unaffected on the surface are severely contaminated underground and need urgent action to protect the health of fishing and farming communities, it says. The report puts pressure on Shell Petroleum Development Co., the major operator during the period, which has had a bitter relationship with communities. It produces about 40% of Nigeria’s oil in a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.  Read more here

China orders petrochemical plant shutdown after protests

Chinese authorities have ordered a petrochemical plant to shut down immediately after tens of thousands of protesters marched through the streets of a nearby city, demanding the factory be relocated.

The demonstration in Dalian – one of the biggest in a series of recent Nimby rallies against potential polluters in China – was sparked by the news last week that a protective dike around the Fujia factory, in the Jinzhou industrial complex, had been breached by rain and high waves as typhoon Muifa approached.

In a rare concession the local Communist party chief, Tang Jun, and Dalian’s mayor, Li Wancai, promised to move the project out of the city, Xinhua reported.

The protesters demanded a clear timetable for moving the plant, with some refusing to leave until a plan was in place, the state-run news agency said.  Read more here