Tar Sands and Oil Shale

Proponents of the proposed Uinta Basin Railway oil train claim it would allow the oil industry to quadruple petroleum extraction in the area. Residents are concerned their property will be seized by eminent domain in order to serve private industry rather than the common good. Many have been notified that surveys are planned.

The oil train would exacerbate climate change, degrade air and water quality, and damage public and private lands. It would permanently endanger the communities along its path. From methane releases at the extraction sites in Utah, to the fuels burned to transport it, to pollution at refining sites (likely in the Gulf of Mexico) and where it is burned, to the ultimate climate impacts, this oil train is a reckless misuse of public money.

Send your comments and sign the petition here: https://www.stopuintabasinrailway.com/

More Information

The Surface Transportation Board, the lead agency working to permit the oil train, has released their scope of work document - December 9, 2019
Scope of Work for Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Colorado River Connected published a thorough background and review of the proposed oil train.
The Uintah Basin Railway: a fossil fuel disaster

Salt Lake Tribune, by Brian Maffley - June 13, 2019
Disputed rail project seeking to ship eastern Utah oil to more lucrative markets clears hurdle with $21 million funding boost
“The CIB is failing the public trust in the administration of this money,” Sarah Stock - Program Director, Living Rivers

Visit Stop the Uinta Basin Railway for more information and actions.

Get Involved

It is NOT clear that the Environmental Impact Statement will consider the full climate impacts of the additional petroleum that would be extracted as a result of the oil train. The full climate impacts of the quadrupled oil exploitation need to be assessed, including:

methane and other pollution at the site of extraction
transportation to the Gulf of Mexico or other locations, and the impacts of refining it
shipping to final destinations in Asia and elsewhere
burning at final destinations

Support

These organizations are working to stop the proposed oil train. Write and ask how you can help their efforts.

Living Rivers & Colorado Riverkeeper - Sarah Stock, Program Director
Utah Tar Sands Resistance - Raphael Cordray, Director

Roger and Melissa Peck want to welcome the proponents of the oil train to their property, so they can see the place that may be seized and destroyed.

Roger and Melissa Peck await news about the arrival of oil train surveyors.

Debris pile at the bankrupt PR Springs tar sands mine. A new oil train could make dirty fuels like tar sands profitable.

Meeting in Vernal, Utah, where $21.4 million of public funds was allocated to a new oil train.

Proponents of the oil train spent hours promoting the project to the Utah Permanent Community Impact Board. Those opposed (standing in back) did not get to speak.

One of thousands of oil derricks in the Uinta Basin.

The film Last Rush for the Wild West exposes how impending tar sands and oil shale strip mining would destroy massive, pristine landscapes in Utah and devastate the Colorado River watershed.

The making of this film played an important role in stimulating and bringing together opposition to the United States' precedent setting tar sands mine. The film also contributed to the ultimate collapse of the company that was attempting to build it.

When a lawyer from Utah's Attorney General office attended a screening, he was pressed to promise the audience there would be opportunity to weigh in on the proposal. The resulting comment period allowed time for a hydrology report to be submitted, and that report resulted in monitoring wells being required. The wells were one additional expense for the corporation, which soon thereafter went into receivership, the Canadian version of bankruptcy.

More information

This stuff needs to stay in the ground.” John Weisheit, the Colorado Riverkeeper, puts it bluntly, but with a studied consideration that is his trademark. He’s referring to plans for tar sands and oil-shale strip mining that would destroy massive, pristine landscapes and put the already imperiled Colorado River watershed at further risk. John is a seasoned outdoorsman but he has a professorial air about him. He also has a way of cutting to the root of things in favor of unfiltered truths. “Tar sands; they all know it’s a bullshit resource,” he adds unapologetically... (more)

Waterkeeper Magazine, by Lauren Wood and Jennifer Ekstrom
Colorado Riverkeeper Takes a Stand Against Tar Sands

Ecowatch, by Stephanie Spear
10 Best Eco-Docs of 2014

EcoWatch, by Anastasia Pantsios
Documentary Exposes Fossil Fuel Industries Assault on Wild West

Facebook- Last Rush for the Wild West