Category Archives: Trans Mountain

What are the real marine risks of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion?

Posted on February 12, 2018 by Blair

Every morning, starting around 7 am, the Spirit of Vancouver Island leaves its berth in Swartz Bay for its first run to Tsawwassen. On-board the Spirit are tens of thousands of liters of diesel fuel to run the ship for … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Pipelines, Risk Communication, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 26 Comments

On dilbit, oil spill response and political gamesmanship

Posted on February 9, 2018 by Blair

As many of my readers know my day job involves investigating and remediating contaminated sites. My particular specialty is the investigation and remediation of petroleum hydrocarbon impacts [and before anyone asks, no I have never worked for Kinder Morgan nor … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain | 32 Comments

Busting Dogwood’s “Myths” on Oil-by-Rail and Crude Oil Exports

Posted on August 1, 2017 by Blair

This week the pipeline debate returned to the headlines and with it have come the anti-pipeline activists who have ramped up their outrage machine to 11 and have been on the various media platform presenting their case. What I find … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

On those proposed Northwest refineries, neatbit and the Trans Mountain expansion project

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Blair

As everyone interested in Canadian oil production knows, the new NDP/Green coalition (or not-coalition as the case may be) in BC has made one of the core planks of their agreement a promise to block the construction of the Kinder … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, General Politics, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Debunking some activist myths about the Trans Mountain Expansion Project

Posted on November 30, 2016 by Blair

On Tuesday November 29th the Trudeau government approved the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX). I am someone who has researched the topic extensively and have a very nuanced  view on the project. I also have a strong desire that any discussion … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

A layman’s guide to the behaviour of diluted bitumen in a marine spill

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Blair

Having listened to the arguments for and against the Energy East and the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) projects one of the things that really struck me was the low quality of the scientific knowledge used in the debates. In particular, … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Chemistry and Toxicology, Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 26 Comments

When anti-pipeline activist pretend that facts don’t matter

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Blair

In my last post I bemoaned the lack of intellectual rigour among the activists fighting pipeline expansion in BC, Ontario and Quebec. I thought I had presented three pretty solid examples where the opponents of the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain | 11 Comments

On the absence of intellectual rigour and honesty in the pipeline debate

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Blair

Well it seems that with the re-commencement of the NEB hearings on the Energy East project and the Trans-Mountain consultations all I seem to be talking about these days is pipelines. As a pragmatic environmentalist I find this disheartening, not … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

The Trans Mountain Expansion Project Open House or Blair’s Adventure in Wonderland

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Blair

As promised, I attended the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMX) Ministerial Panel Public Open House in Langley. I went in with an open mind and left the event feeling that I now know what it is like to be the ant at a … Continue reading →

Posted in Oil Sands, Pipelines, Trans Mountain, Uncategorized | 26 Comments

On pipelines, oil-by-rail, and the relative risk of catastrophic spills in the aquatic environment

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Blair

As my regular readers know besides this blog I also write a blog at the Huffington Post. It typically consists of shorter versions on my pieces here. Well my most recent post on the Trans-Mountain Expansion project has received a … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian Politics, Energy East, Oil Sands, Pipelines, Risk, Risk Assessment Methodologies, Risk Communication, Trans Mountain | 16 Comments