InfoChrono20100602a

greentek2010 — 2 juin/june 2010 — A piece of chemically treated cotton cloth is able to separate crude oil from sea water (both from Mexico Gulf) completely within seconds by using gravity alone. It can be developed into various effective tools for cleaning up the oil spill in Mexico Gulf. The treated cloth allows water to path through but not oil. The novel surface chemical treatment method is developed by University of Pittsburgh. Contact gaod@pitt.edu for details.

NormanMcGregor — 1 mai /may 2008 — Fingers are being pointed after hundreds of ducks were found dead or dying in a toxic tailings pond belonging to oilsands giant Syncrude Canada Ltd. CTV Edmonton's Joel Gotlib told Newsnet on Wednesday that it's the worst such incident in the history of northern Alberta's oilsands. Environmentalists are furious, governments are demanding answers and Syncrude -- located about 40 kilometres north of Fort McMurray -- is scrambling to contain the damage, he said.

FlickJustice — 11 mars 2009 — At its center are proprietary polymer beads, which look like Corn Pops. They attract tar-like bitumen -- the oil part of the sands -- while repelling water. They first proved useful in cleaning up oil spills. If all goes well, not only will developers be able to use them to stop the spread of contaminated ponds, which now cover more than 50 square km (20 square miles) of northern Alberta landscape, but recover oil that goes to waste, Gradek said. "We will eliminate the tailings ponds that are there within 10 years, and they will not have any more tailings ponds generated because we're going to be taking their end-of-pipe (waste)," Gradek, an engineer by trade, said. Tailings are generated in the extraction part of production, where companies use hot water and chemicals to separate the tar-like bitumen from oil sands that they mine in sprawling open pits. Besides water and unrecovered bitumen, the waste contains sand, silt, clay heavy metals and naphtha. It takes decades for all of the fine tailings to settle to the bottom of the ponds. The stew represents contamination danger to groundwater and nearby rivers, but also gives off methane fumes, seen as a major contributor to global warming. As U.S. President Barack Obama visited Canada last week week, oil sands jumped into the public eye again. They are the largest oil resource outside the Middle East and seen by governments as key to North American energy security. But criticism is growing over the impact of development on air, land, water and local communities. The duck deaths, for which Syncrude now faces provincial and federal charges, emboldened opponents. This month, the Alberta government tightened regulations for tailings, demanding that operators prepare plans and report on the ponds annually, reduce accumulations and specify dates for construction and closure of ponds.

polymer beads and hay !