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Alabama was still dealing with the fallout from the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill when Plains Southcap, LLC sought permits to build a tar sands pipeline under the Mobile River and another one from?Ten Mile Terminal in Mobile , Alabama to the Chevron Refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi. These permits were granted and the building started with a minimum of fuss because of the lack of transparency on the part of the Alabama Public Service Commission. Those communities most affected by this decision were not even aware that it was taking place.?The first heated rail cars full of these toxic tar sands are expected to begin arriving sometime this month.

Environmental groups are working to inform everyone about these pipelines and the risk they pose to the communities and the ecosystem. The first pipeline passes under the Mobile River, which connects to Mobile Bay and then to the Gulf of Mexico. The second pipeline would make 128 wetland crossings and cross 11 streams to get to the refinery. Unfortunately, now that the permits are issued, there is little hope to stop them. That isn’t going to stop the community of Moss Point, Mississippi from trying. City officials “agreed to allow attorney Amy St. Pe to examine its contract with Plains South Cap to determine if the city can stop the sale of city-owned property the company needs for its pipeline from Eight Mile, Alabama, to Chevron USA.”

This video shows what happens when one of these pipelines breaks:

Tar Sands are not the same as the regular crude oil that is pumped out of the earth, and can flow on it’s own. These sands require significant processing with toxic chemicals just to make it transportable. When pipelines break, tar sands sink in water and solidify on the ground and are extremely difficult to clean up. Just ask the folks in Mayflower, Arkansas what a nightmare it can be when pipelines break. They are still dealing with the health problems associated with breathing in the toxic fumes. Exxon’s attempts at damage control included trying to deceive the public about the severity of the spill and the after effects of it. Wildlife officials said that cleaning affected animals was much more difficult than cleaning animals after an oil spill. The sludge was not only more difficult to wash off but it was causing blisters and skin irritations in ways that oil doesn’t.

If you are living in this area and want to know what you can do to try to stop this,?contact Carol Adams-Davis, 702-496-5050 or email: [email protected] Like the Mobile, Alabama Tar Sands Awareness Facebook Page,?the Tar Sands Blockade Facebook Page?and the Mayflower Arkansas Oil Spill Facebook Page.

Edited and published by WP