Runaway freight train destroys city.
Collapsing prices for Canadian crude.
And now this: unstoppable oil leaks, as reported by The WSJ.
Canada's largest independent oil producer has been unable to stop a series of leaks from underground wells, according to regulators in Alberta, raising questions about a technology the industry has championed as less environmentally disruptive than the open-pit mining of oil sands.
Four separate leaks, the first of which was reported on May 20, comprise the equivalent of 175 barrels of oil and spread over at least 100 acres on the grounds of a Canadian air-force base in northeastern Alberta, according to preliminary figures from the chief provincial regulatory body. While the amount of oil is relatively small, it has contaminated a vast area of boreal forest, including killing some wildlife. It also represents a relatively rare case in which a producer hasn't been able to immediately identify the cause of a leak and correct it, drawing special scrutiny from regulators and environmentalists.
"We don't know when they're going to get control of it," said Alberta Energy Regulator spokesman Bob Curran.More ammunition for US activist environmentalists who want to stop Canadian crude in its tracks.
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