PORTLAND, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Environmental groups in Maine are keeping a close eye on any potential plans to transport tar sands oil via a pipeline that runs from South Portland to Canada.
Since 1941, Portland Pipeline has transported billions of barrels of crude oil from it’s tank farms in South Portland to Montreal. At a news conference Thursday, members of the Natural Resources Council of Maine said with President Obama rejected the Keystone XL Pipeline, canadian oil companies are looking for other ways to export tar sands oil. They say Canadian oil company Enbrdige is exploring ways to reverse the flow of oil from Ontario through Montreal to South Portland. They say tar sands oil can’t be transported safely.
“It’s more acidic and corrosive. It’s piped at higher temperatures and higher pressures and these facts and other could increase the risk of an oil spill,” said Dylan Voorhees of the Natural Resources Council of Maine.
David Cyr, an official with Portland Pipeline tells NEWS CENTER there is no active plans to bring western Canadian crude oil to South Portland.
