Native & Green Groups Challenge State Dept. Permit for Dirty Oil Pipeline

Media Release
Earthjustice
September 3, 2009

‘Alberta Clipper’ Would Bring Canadian Tar Sands Crude to U.S.

San Francisco, CA -- Native American and environmental groups filed suit in federal court today challenging a proposed tar sands oil pipeline that would bring the dirtiest oil on Earth from Canada to the United States.

The U.S. State Department's approval on August 20 of Enbridge Energy's Alberta Clipper pipeline permits 450,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day to be pumped from northern Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin, for refining.

Tar sands oil is dirtier and, over its lifecycle, emits more global warming pollution than any other type of oil. Tar sands development in Alberta is creating an environmental catastrophe, with toxic tailings ponds so large they can be seen from space, and plans to strip away forests and peat lands of an area the size of Florida. (Photos at www.dirtyoilsands.org.)

The Indigenous Environmental Network, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, National Wildlife Federation and Sierra Club filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for Northern California. They are represented by the nonprofit law firm Earthjustice.

Read the complaint (PDF)

This media release

Enbridge pipeline faces U.S. court challenge

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