PORTLAND — Brooke Hidell, of Casco, has lived near the Crooked River for much of his life. He understands the river’s role as a feeder into Sebago Lake, the main source of drinking water for residents of Greater Portland.

The Portland-Montreal Pipe Line crosses the Crooked River six times. For Hidell, that means at least six chances for an oil spill that would threaten the waterway.

As speculation grows about the possibility of tar sands oil flowing from Canada through Maine, environmental advocates are banding together to oppose what they see as a risky proposition.

On Tuesday at Portland City Hall, Hidell joined representatives from the Natural Resources Council of Maine, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the local chapter of the Sierra Club to protest what they say is a growing threat to Maine’s quality of life.

Enbridge Corp., a major petroleum company in Canada, has applied for a permit to reverse the flow of oil between Ontario and Montreal. Dylan Voorhees of the Natural Resources Council of Maine and others predict a similar reversal of the Portland-Montreal Pipe Line, so Canadian oil could be loaded onto tankers in Casco Bay, then shipped to refineries.

Voorhees said that would provide no benefits to Maine but would threaten the environment.

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“The risk of pushing tar sands through this pipeline is just too great,” he said at Tuesday’s event.

For years, light crude oil has flowed from Portland to Montreal. The difference in moving oil the other way lies in the type of oil, said Shelley Kath with the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Tar sands oil is dirty and corrosive, opponents say. Just to get it through pipelines, the oil must be diluted with chemicals. Kath said tar sands oil is much more likely to spill than traditional oil.

Canadian companies are committed to getting the most out of tar sands oil, even with the challenges. A Montreal-to-Portland route would be just a small part of what industry watchers expect to happen over the next decade.

In Maine, the pipeline is operated by Portland Pipe Line Corp., of South Portland. The company recently declined a request for comment about its plans, but its website says there are no active plans to move crude oil from western Canada through Maine.

Environmentalists don’t buy it.

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Four years ago, Enbridge introduced a project that would have moved tar sands oil from Alberta to Montreal and eventually to Portland.

That project was shelved because of the recession, but now it appears to be moving forward in smaller pieces.

“Everything is pointing toward a revival of this project,” Kath said.

Plans to move tar sands oil have spurred debate elsewhere. TransCanada Corp. has faced stiff opposition from environmentalists in the U.S. to its Keystone Pipeline, which would transport oil down the country’s midsection to the Gulf Coast.


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