IPFS News Link • Environment
An unstoppable oil leak is flowing in Alberta
• treehugger.comFor at least six weeks, thousands of barrels of tar sands oil have been bubbling up into the forest in Cold Lake, Alberta and neither the oil company or government scientists know how to stop the flow.
Emma Pullman and Martin Lukacs at The Toronto Star report on the controversial extraction method that is likely the cause for the leak:
The company’s operations use an “in situ” or underground extraction technology called “cyclic steam stimulation,” which involves injecting thousands of gallons of superhot, high-pressure steam into deep underground reservoirs. This heats and liquefies the hard bitumen and creates cracks through which the bitumen flows and is then pumped to the surface.