The amount of harmful pollution released in the process of separating oil from tar sands in western Canada is likely far higher than corporate interests say, according to university researchers.
The study raises new questions about the accuracy of environmental impact assessments on the tar sands, a timely issue after the US State Department reported that the controversial Keystone pipeline project to bring oil from Canada to Texas would have little effect on climate change or the environment.
Actual levels of disconcerting hydrocarbon emissions into the air may be two to three times higher than estimated, findings said in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed US journal. Current estimates accepted by the government do not account for the evaporation of pollutants from wastewater pools.
I am not surprised that corporations are hiding the truth about pollution from us. What I hope to see in my lifetime is a data source that will report these things to the public unbiasedly. Statistics are critical in our age of technology, but they can help as much as they can hurt if used improperly.
http://news.yahoo.com/oil-sands-pollution-two-three-times-higher-thought-210153802.html
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