Enough is enough - Another toxic spill from the oil industry in Alberta

In case we needed any more evidence that the oil and gas industry is unsafe and poorly regulated, there is news of the largest recent spill of toxic waste in North America. Almost 10 million litres of what is believed to be hydrocarbons, salt water, sulphurous compounds, heavy metals, radioactive material, and chemical solvents and additives used by oil extractors has destroyed a swath of Northern Alberta. In a Globe and Mail report, a Houston company called Apache Corp. has admitted to the spill, says it's stopped the leak and "taken steps to contain the release as the company continues to map, sample and monitor the impacted areas."

No word on how they intend to prevent this from happening in future. Certainly, Canadian regulators have done little to prevent this kind of thing, according to the local Dene people.

It's long past time to regulate the oil and gas industry properly, as well as reject the Keystone XL pipeline, any pipeline from the tar sands, and the tar sands themselves.