Environmental News: Media Center

WASHINGTON (July 10, 2012) -- The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued the findings today of a two year investigation into spill of tar sands oil from an Enbridge pipeline into the Kalamazoo River.

Anthony Swift, an attorney and energy analyst at the Natural Resources Defense Council issued the following statement:

“The Kalamazoo River tar sands spill two years ago has clearly demonstrated how dirty and dangerous tar sands pipelines are. It has become the most expensive pipeline disaster in U.S. history and emergency responders are still struggling to clean up the Kalamazoo River. The government investigation raises serious questions about whether corrosive tar sands can be safely moved, especially when they cross farms and waters in the U.S. heartland as the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would do. It also makes clear that we need better transparency in our pipeline reporting; first responders have to know what they are cleaning up."

The National Academy of Sciences is holding a hearing later this month on whether tar sands oil can be safely transported in pipelines.

Swift has a blog post detailing today’s findings:  http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/aswift/

For video and digital resources relating to the dangers associated with tar sands projects, visit http://www.nrdc.org/energy/keystone-pipeline/tar-sands-stories/