Category Archives: Pipelines

Questions about the City of Vancouver May 27th Trans-Mountain Expansion Proposal Summary of Evidence

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Blair

Yesterday my twitter feed was stuffed with multiple re-tweets of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Proposal (TMEP) Summary of Evidence (SoE) prepared for Vancouver City Council 27 May 2015 (ref). I was first directed to the document by Jeff Lee … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, General Politics, Risk, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Where the new Pembina Report misses the mark on Energy East

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Blair

Numerous people have sent me links to the Pembina Institute report: “Crafting an Effective Canadian Energy Strategy: “How Energy East and the oilsands affect climate and energy objectives”. Having quickly read the report I must admit to being a bit … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Energy East, Pipelines | 5 Comments

More on Oil Spills: Some Toxicological Calculations and What if it were Dilbit?

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Blair

I have been asked a number of questions, both on Twitter and via email, regarding my post on the English Bay fuel spill and so I have written up this follow-up to my last post. In particular, I was asked … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemistry and Toxicology, Oil Sands, Pipelines | 7 Comments

A non-specialist’s guide to how spilled hydrocarbons react in water

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Blair

After the spill today in English Bay (at the Port of Vancouver) I have been asked by numerous people to explain what happens when petroleum hydrocarbons spill into water. Anyone with an internet connection can get any number of descriptions … Continue reading →

Posted in Chemistry and Toxicology, Oil Sands, Pipelines | 4 Comments

The Energy East Pipeline: Dispelling Some Myths

Posted on March 10, 2015 by Blair

Another couple oil train derailments (Gogama and Galena) in the last week have brought my attention back to the topic of oil pipelines. As I have written elsewhere, the safety record of oil-by-rail is one of the reasons why I … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Energy East, Pipelines | 6 Comments

How Big and Small Numbers Influence Science Communication: Understanding Fuel Spill Volumes

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Blair

This weekend I got a tweet from a friend who wanted everyone on her twitter list to be deeply concerned about the remaining oil from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (more on that later). In reading … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands, Pipelines, Risk Assessment Methodologies | 7 Comments

On being labelled “pro-oil” and ”pro-pipeline”

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Blair

The morning I found myself in the very interesting position of being the foil in a thoughtful and well-written piece in the Tyee. The piece recounts a Twitter discussion between myself and the author regarding the Burnaby Mountain protest. While … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Energy East, Pipelines, Trans Mountain | 3 Comments

Follow-up on Trans-Mountain

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Blair

As a follow-up to my previous post I would like to address some comments about the Trans-Mountain pipeline, oil tankers and oil exports from BC. Most of the following numbers are from Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and Washington State … Continue reading →

Posted in Pipelines, Trans Mountain | 2 Comments

Thoughts on Trans-Mountain

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Blair

There is a tremendous misconception in the media and on the streets of Vancouver about the role of pipelines and hydrocarbons in our daily lives. We live in a society that is absolutely dependent on petroleum hydrocarbons derived from oil. … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Pipelines, Trans Mountain | 2 Comments