Bloomberg.com
By Joe Schneider
Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) — Shell Canada Ltd. said a regulatory agencys approval of two oil sands mines in Alberta was upheld by an appeals court judge who rejected an environmental groups request for a new hearing on the projects.
Alberta Court of Appeal Judge Bruce MacDonald yesterday upheld two rulings by the Energy Resources Conservation Board, the provincial energy regulator, denying a request to re-examine approvals of Shells Jackpine Mine and expansion of the Muskeg River Mine oil sands project, the company said in a statement.
The Oil Sands Environmental Coalition, or OSEC, which includes the environmental policy researcher Pembina Institute, asked the board for new hearings in April, claiming Shell failed to abide by a voluntary pollution-reduction agreement that it signed with the environmental group. The board denied the request and the group appealed.
Shell, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, feels strongly that our compliance with CO2 regulations will fulfill the spirit and intent of our agreements with OSEC, John Abbott, Shells executive vice president of heavy oil, said in the statement.
MacDonald said in his ruling from the bench that the energy boards decisions were based on a reasonable exercise of its discretion and the threshold for an appeal wasnt met, according to Shell. The judge didnt put his decision in writing, Philip Vircoe, a Shell spokesman, said today in a phone interview.
End of the Road
This is the end of the road for our legal options, said Dan Woynillowicz, a policy analyst at the Pembina Institute. The environmental group will stop negotiating directly with oil companies and instead bring its concerns to the regulatory board from now on, Woynillowicz said.
Its more adversarial and more costly, he said, adding the energy board had encouraged groups to negotiate directly with the companies to reduce the length of hearings and cut costs.
Shell had promised to bring pollution from oil sands mines in line with alternatives available in North America, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 900,000 tons a year — the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the roads, the environmental group said.
The Muskeg River oil sands mine and the Jackpine Mine are about 70 kilometers (44 miles) north of Fort McMurray in northern Alberta.
To contact the reporter on this story: Joe Schneider in Toronto at [email protected].
Last Updated: August 28, 2009 16:27 EDT
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
