Done digging for the day: Protestors say they will spend the night in the Muskeg River mine.
Oil sands protestors to spend the night
Protestors from environmental group Greenpeace are preparing to spend the night chained to heavy equipment at the Albian Sands Muskeg River bitumen mine to draw attention to emissions from Canada’s oil sands extraction.
At about 8 am local time, 25 protestors blocked access to a dump truck and hydraulic shovel, then climbed up and chained themselves to the equipment.
Another group of protestors put banners on the ground, measuring 22 metres by 7 metres, that read “Tar Sands: Climate Crime.”
Operator Shell, which holds a 60% stake in the venture, stopped operations at the mine when it learned of the protest.
Greenpeace spokeswoman Jessica Wilson told UpstreamOnline that, ten hours into the protest, all the activists were still in the mine were prepared to spend the night.
“They have food, water and extra clothing,” Wilson said in a telephone interview.
She said protestors were trying to draw attention to the emissions of oil sands operations on the eve of a meeting between Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper and US President Barack Obama.
The pair are expected to discuss energy and emissions issues at their final meeting before a global summit on climate change in Copenhagen.
"Copenhagen is the last chance to come to meaningful global climate regulations and anything that would be meaningful would not include the tar sands," Wilson told UpstreamOnline.
"We are trying to send a messge to them that climate leaders don't buy tar sands."
In response to the Greenpeace actions, Shell said it has invited the protestors and Greenpeace leaders inside the administrative building to talk about their concerns over Shell’s operations at the mine.