Bob McLeod, NWT, Arctic Route, Bitumen, Dave Harbour Photo

9-11-13 “Lest We Forget, Year After Year and Today In 2014 We Remember” – Northern Gas Pipelines

9-2001

Instead of Mackenzie Delta natural gas flowing south, as had been the NWT/Yukon/Alberta dream for 40 years, Oil Sands bitumen flowing north may be one of the answers to Arctic Canada’s economic challenges.  -dh

CBC.  Sending oilsands bitumen north through N.W.T. to a port in the Arctic is feasible, according to a study commissioned last year by Alberta.

Dubbed the Arctic Gateway Pipeline, the proposed link would ship bitumen along the Mackenzie Valley to a port in Tuktoyaktuk, N.W.T.

Ships from Tuktoyaktuk heading west towards the Pacific Ocean would encounter 'much more benign conditions than existed in past years,' says a report commissioned by Alberta that concludes sending oilsands bitumen to a port in the Arctic is feasible.It says shipping of bitumen through Tuktoyaktuk could start as early as next summer, using freight trains to Hay River, N.W.T., then barges the rest of the way down the Mackenzie River and on to Tuktoyaktuk.

N.W.T. Premier Bob McLeod (NGP Photo) said he is happy with the study’s findings.

“The report lays out a number of options,” he said. “We can start on a smaller scale, and eventually advance to where the report indicates the best option is a pipeline to the coast.”

Doc Hastings. Chairman, House Resources, DOI IG In violation, Dave Harbour PhotoWASHINGTON, D.C. – House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (NGP PHOTO) delivered the following opening statement at today’s Full Committee oversight hearing entitled “Oversight of the Office of Inspector General and its Ongoing Failure to Comply with a Subpoena for Documents about a Recent Investigation.”

“There are long-held concerns about the integrity and independence of the Department of the Interior’s Office of Inspect General under the leadership of Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall.  A Committee report released last year highlighted several examples of mismanagement and there are ongoing issues that continue to undermine the credibility of the OIG’s work.

The OIG is supposed to serve as an independent watchdog over the Department and report findings to Congress.  Instead, Ms. Kendall has established an accommodating and deferential relationship between the OIG and the Department, hindering the OIG’s ability to conduct impartial, independent work.

The OIG is currently in violation of a congressional subpoena for an unredacted copy of their report and documents on the Department’s rewrite of the 2008 Stream Buffer Zone Rule.  Their report exposed mismanagement of the rulemaking process and significant on-going problems.  More….