A disturbing video released yesterday by the Windsor Star shows petcoke dust blowing along the Detroit River, and creating significant air pollution for local residents. Petcoke is a refining byproduct of tar sands oil, and when burned is substantially dirtier than coal and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas pollution.
A disturbing video released yesterday by the Windsor Star shows petcoke dust blowing along the Detroit River, and creating significant air pollution for local residents. Petcoke is a refining byproduct of tar sands oil, and when burned is substantially dirtier than coal and contributes significantly to greenhouse gas pollution.
In Detroit, it’s the neighbors of the Marathon tar sands refinery living in the 48217 zip code who have to breathe the toxic tar dust and live with mess and the risk. The oil industry wants to bring this unacceptable threat to communities across the county, from Delaware, to Texas, to California. The refining of tar sands poisons people in their homes.
According to Oil Change International, the petroleum coke from the tar sands traveling across the United States in the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline would add carbon emissions equivalent to 3.5 million additional cars each year, in addition to the higher emissions from producing and refining tar sands.
The pile of petcoke along the Detroit River has already caused significant problems for Michiganders, but the three-story pile covering an entire city block is only a harbinger of things to come if the President approves Keystone XL.
- Every 1 week, Keystone XL would be responsible for enough petcoke to fill the Washington Monument.
- Every 1 year, Keystone XL would be responsible for enough petcoke to fill the Great Pyramid of Giza.
- In its project lifetime, Keystone XL would be responsible for enough petcoke to fill more than 80 Empire State Buildings.
In addition to the carbon emissions attributable directly to tar sands (1.2 billion metric tons more than traditional crude), petcoke would be another significant contributor to carbon pollution as a result of Keystone XL.
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For more information, contact:
David Turnbull, david@priceoiloil.org
Daniel Kessler, dk@350.org
Jane Kleeb, jane@boldnebraska.org
Eddie Scher, eddie.scher@sierraclub.org
Nick Schroeck, Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, nschroeck@wayne.edu, (313)820-7797