October 31, 2008 by admin.

ICIS News

Tunisia to halt some ferts output, sulphur delivery
30 October 2008 16:30

By Rebecca Clarke

LONDON (ICIS news)–Tunisian phosphates producer Groupe Chimique Tunisien (GCT) will stop production at two sites and has asked sulphur suppliers to delay, or in some cases cancel, shipments due to high stock levels, market sources said on Thursday….

Black Sea sulphur suppliers reported that GCT asked them to delay or cancel cargoes scheduled to be delivered before the end of the year so that the producer can avoid having to store all the volumes.

Suppliers also noted that there is a long queue of vessels already waiting to discharge in Tunisia….(Full Story)

Posted in World Sulphur Glut | Print | No Comments »

October 31, 2008 by admin.

Zamma [sic] City evacuated
By KEVIN CRUSH, Sun Media

2008 08 15

Zama City had to be evacuated after a fire at a sulphur plant Friday.

Fire broke out in a front end loader at the Apache Gas plant about 20 km south of the town at 1 p.m.

The loader was on top of a sulphur block at the time and when crews tried to get it off the block itself caught on fire.

The burning block produced hydrogen sulfide gas, which is deadly if inhaled, and sulfur dioxide which is also harmful….(Full Story)
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Note by folc.ca: There was a correction by officials, namely that the gas of concern was not hydrogen sulphide but that only sulphur dioxide (a product of the combustion of sulphur) was involved.

It seems that another item of information in the story requires correction. That is that the location of the sulphur-block that was on fire appears to be about exactly 15 km south-west of Zama City.

The evacuation of the residents of Zama City is of great interest to residents in Lamont County, especially to those in the vicinity of the proposed sulphur-forming facility intended to be constructed south-east of the intersection of Highway 45 and Range Road 202, 1.5 miles from the eastern border of the town of Bruderheim and 3.5 miles from the western border of the Town of Lamont.

Sulphur fires do happen. As shown in the webpages at folc.ca, they happen fairly often, and they can be and are started by front-end loaders used to handle sulphur.

AlthoughFront-end loaders feature prominently in HAZCO’s plans for their proposed sulphur-forming and shipping facility east of Bruderheim. Evacuations of residents in the vicinity of sulphur fires are a fact of life.  As per the article identified above, Mackenzie County Reeve Greg Newman stated, “With the limited access in and out of there and the potential for a major fire on the sulphur block, there was some concern,” and “I’d like to think we’re prepared for just about everything. We expect these kinds of things and we have the resources to prepare for them.”

That is in stark contrast to comparable expectations and the availability of resources to prepare for them in Lamont County.  HAZCO were repeatedly asked for details of evacuation plans in case of sulphur fires at their proposed plant. Other than to initially refusing to admit that sulphur fires at their sulphur facility could even happen or now claiming that it is extremely unlikely that they would ever pose a danger to nearby residents, as of now we have not seen any plans by HAZCO as to what will be done to evacuate and temporarily house the thousands of residents in the vicinity that would be put at risk through fires at their proposed sulphur facility.

Posted in Community & Industry, Explosions & Fires, Emission Incidents & Issues, Hazco, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

October 28, 2008 by admin.

Fort News

New company has $5M plan for part of ERCO site

Rotex Energy plans to build oilfield waste plant near Bruderheim

Posted By Conal MacMillan / Record Staff

2008 10 28

A new oilfield waste disposal company is planning to invest $5 million in a site southeast of Bruderheim in order to take advantage of the increasing amount of waste being produced by oil and gas companies in the region.

Rotex Energy Ltd. is proposing to build an oilfield waste management plant in Alberta’s industrial heartland three kilometres outside the Town of Bruderheim. The site would take oilfield waste, heat it in vessels to separate its three components — oil, water and sludge — and then dispose of it either underground or through re-sale because it can’t be disposed of in conventional landfills….(Full Story

Posted in Community & Industry, Pollution: Health Issues | Print | No Comments »

October 27, 2008 by admin.

Seeking Alpha

Alter NRG Changes Course to Build Up Cash Flow
by: FP Trading Desk October 22, 2008 | about stocks: ANRGF.PK

FP Trading Desk

In a new strategy to weather the financial credit crisis and build up its cash flow, Alter NRG Corp. (ANRGF.PK) is changing course, putting on the back burner two of the company’s main engineering and construction projects, the Bruderheim IGCC power and Fox Creek coal-to-liquid facilities.

Fraser Mackenzie Ltd. analyst John Safrance wrote in a research note:

….Trading as high as C$6.75 in May of this year, Alter NRG shares have been decimated in the global sell off over the past few months. So much so that after losing another C$0.10 in trading Wednesday morning, the stock now valued at C$0.90 is trading below Mr. Safrance’s estimated cash value for the company of approximately C$56-million or C$1 per share….(Full Story)

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It seems that the possibility of receiving government grant money for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a major motivator for the construction of Alter NRG’s Bruderheim power plant.  However, it appears that the Alberta Government’s generositywill be stressed somewhat on account of the current market price of crude oil (in the order of $70) falling seriously short of projections that were based on estimates of an anticipated price of $115 per barrel.

CCS for the Alter NRG Bruderheim power plant is a bit of a red herring.  CO2 is neither a pollutant, nor is it proven to be the cause of global warming.  The major pollutant that would be produced by the Bruderheim power plant is a massive amount of water vapour that, with the prevalence of common temperature inversions layering during the winter, would quite likely produce massively dense fogs in the Bruderheim area, fogs that are now often already so dense that they frequently make driving extremely hazardous.

In the absence of government grants for CCS, the viability of the sales of electric energy to be produced by Alter NRG, given that initially it would depend on relatively expensive and rapidly depleting natural gas, is somewhat at risk in an energy market that will quite possibly see shrinking demand due to the escalating financial world crisis.

Posted in Community & Industry | Print | No Comments »

October 22, 2008 by admin.

Alter NRG Project Development
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As a means to reduce Alter NRG’s capital requirements the Company has adopted a more stepwise approach for internally-led projects in development.

Based on a slowing economy that may affect the outlook for power development in Alberta, Alter NRG will be delaying the decision to proceed on phase one of the Bruderheim power facility until the spring of 2009. Development of the first phase of the project had already commenced with the intention of having the 120 MW natural gas combined cycle (”NGCC”) facility operational by early 2010.

In the spring of 2009, the Company will assess combining the two phases to complete the Bruderheim integrated gasification combined cycle (”IGCC”) project that will convert petroleum coke and oilfield waste into 120 MW of power - including design for carbon capture and storage (”CCS”). Delaying the development of phase one of the Bruderheim project is expected to reduce the near-term capital requirements for 2008 and 2009 to under $2 million. Using this reduced budget, the Company will continue to advance project engineering, government grant applications and a strategic partner selection process to advance the Bruderheim IGCC project with an expected completion date of the IGCC facility in late 2011.

Alter NRG is also reducing project development expenditures on the Fox Creek coal-to-liquids project which is expected to produce up to 40,000 barrels per day of diesel fuel and naphtha from Alter NRG’s existing coal reserves. The Company expects to spend less than $3 million in 2008 and 2009. The Company will continue to advance engineering work to further define the project scope, advance government grant applications and continue to seek strategic partners. The delayed timeline will impact the final completion of the development until late 2015, subject to successful partner selection by the end of 2009….(Full Story)

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Previous comment (Sept. 17, 2008) on the Alter NRG proposal that would put a power-generating plant into operation just half a mile east from the eastern boundary of Bruderheim.

Posted in Community & Industry | Print | No Comments »

October 19, 2008 by admin.

This is all that needs to be said, the open letter from the Viscount Monckton of Brenchley to Senator John McCain must be read, not so much because the climate alarmists are wrong but because policies based on their errors are deadly to the human race.

There is a related discussion paper by the Viscount Monckton of Brenchley that is required reading for anyone who ever spread climate alarmism, for anyone ever taken in by it, and for anyone worried about the consequences of the attempts by the governments of the world to fool-around and interfere with the forces of nature and of the free market system: that is, untold misery, starvation and death for many tens of millions of people:

35 INCONVENIENT TRUTHS
THE ERRORS IN AL GORE’S MOVIE

Posted in Climate Change | Print | No Comments »

October 12, 2008 by admin.

Over a quarter-century ago, Dr. Sherwood Idso stated in a small self-published book that if the air’s CO2 content continued to rise, it would enhance plant growth and water use efficiency to the point that semi-arid lands not then suitable for cultivation could be brought into profitable production and that the deserts themselves could blossom as the rose. How is this prediction standing today?

Click here for instructions on how to embed this video on your own web page or to watch it on YouTube in a higher resolution. More Truth Alert Videos Here.

Posted in Climate Change | Print | No Comments »

October 2, 2008 by admin.

chicagotribune.com

EPA: BP violated Clean Air Act in Whiting

Associated Press
5:38 PM CDT, October 2, 2008

WHITING, Ind. - BP PLC violated the Clean Air Act by beginning to make modifications at its Indiana oil refinery along Lake Michigan to process Canadian crude before it received the proper permit, federal regulators said Thursday.

The allegation was included in an amended complaint by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The complaint alleges BP violated the law by making several unapproved changes in 2005 when it altered a unit at the refinery that converts heavy oils into lighter products such as gasoline.

The EPA said in November the modifications caused “significant increases” in sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and carbon monoxide emitted from the refinery….(Full Story)
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Comment by folc.ca : It is not clear at all what BP will do with the sulphur it will recover from the heavy crude it gets from Canada.  As of now the US does not permit storage of sulphur to block.

Posted in Pollution: Health Issues, Emission Incidents & Issues, Sulphur Logistics, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »