This post explains how to file your comment on the proposed NPDES Permit AL0082759 that is pending issuance to MS Industries II, LLC by the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM). Click here to read a simple overview of the pending NPDES permit. 1. Comment Deadline Friday, March … [Read more...]
How will Alabama’s oil sands be mined and processed?
“Developing” the Hartselle sandstone formation in Alabama will be a multi-step process that involves mining or in situ extraction, then processing to separate the bitumen. When the bitumen is extracted from the sand and clay, the bitumen is processed into heavy crude oil, which is then transported … [Read more...]
May Day: The Alabama Oil Sands Frenzy Gets Underway in 2013
Efforts to develop the oil sands from the Hartselle Sandstone formation in northwest Alabama started to become public in June 2011 but no one was watching. Here's a timeline of some of my research on a few key dates in the evolving oil sands development frenzy in Alabama. The focus is on 2013, … [Read more...]
Affiliated Entities? Decoding the Alphabet Soup
Some of the companies identified as being involved in the oil sands development in Colbert County Alabama include: MS Industries II LLC MS Industries II, LLC is the most visible entity that is pursuing what its manager/CEO Steve Smith calls “research” into bitumen mining and extraction or oil … [Read more...]