Lily Sands Inn

[Leontina Heidgerken]

PASADENACalif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. (NYSE:JEC) announced today it was awarded a contract from Suncor Energy to provide project management and engineering services to complete the design basis memorandum (DBM) for its proposed Meadow Creek East facility in northeast Alberta, Canada.

Located 45 kilometers south of Fort McMurray, Meadow Creek is a steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) oil sands development and is jointly held by Suncor Energy (as the operator) and Nexen Energy ULC (non-operated).

The Meadow Creek East program is planned over two phases, with the anticipated construction of a nominal 40,000 barrels per day central processing facility replicated in each phase. Jacobs is working with Suncor to standardize the central processing facility design. The objective of this replication strategy is to reduce capital costs and maximize the potential delivery of industry-leading returns.

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Shiant East Bank pMPA is in the middle of the Minch, the sea which separates the Outer Hebrides from the Scottish mainland. The proposed protected features are circalittoral sands and mixed sediment communities, northern sea fan and sponge communities, and shelf banks and mounds. The site is made up of mosaics of sand and mixed sediment which support species such as worms, clams, brittlestars, crabs and starfish. Outcrops of volcanic rock provide habitat for filter feeders such as northern sea fans and sponges.

The conservation objectives of this site are to conserve the features, meaning to keep the status of the features in favourable condition. This does not include where there is alteration of the feature through natural processes.

Circalittoral sands and mixed sediment communities are sensitive to physical disturbance. Northern sea fan and sponge communities are sensitive to physical disturbance, organic enrichment and siltation changes. The extent and distribution of these features should be conserved, along with the physical structure and function of the features. Also, the diversity, abundance and distribution of characteristic species should be maintained.

Shelf banks and mounds may be sensitive to changes to tidal flow and physical changes to the seabed. SNH advises that the extent and distribution of the feature, functions of the feature supporting processes should be maintained. There is no management advice for shelf banks and mounds.

The geodiversity feature, Quaternary of Scotland, is highly resistant to human pressures. SNH advises that in order to conserve this feature, the extent and integrity of the feature should be maintained, functions of the feature should be maintained and the surface of the feature should be unobstructed. There is no management advice for Quaternary of Scotland.

The SEA concluded that, under the intermediate management scenario, designation of the Shiant East Bank pMPA could have a moderate beneficial impact on the environment and provide potential for future benefits. Reduction in certain fishing gears would provide moderate environmental benefits and have the potential for minor spillover benefits outside the site. The negative impacts from fishing displacement would be negligible and these will be outweighed by the benefits of reducing fishing pressures.

Table 5 shows the cost impacts from the Shiant East Bank pMPA for relevant sectors. The SEIA found that the only sectors with economic impacts, under the intermediate scenario, would be commercial fisheries and telecommunication cables. The GVA impacts are attributed to the exclusion of mobile gear from northern sea fan and sponge communities and from 20% of circalittoral sand. The gear type most affected by this is demersal trawls for Nephrops. There are also high costs to telecommunication cables under the upper scenario due to a possible need to replace a cable which currently runs through the site, and which may need to be rerouted to avoid the sensitive habitat.

The scientific consensus is that CO2 is contributing to global warming which is bad for the planet and our children. If CO2 is the problem policy makers and pundits should focus the most offensive CO2 perpetrators. U.S. coal-fired power plants emit 2000 million tonnes of CO2 per year vs the oil sands which emit 40 million tonnes per year. U.S. coal-fired electricity plants emit 50 times more CO2 per year than oil produced from the Canadian oil sands. If you add China into the global warning equation we are talking about 100 times more CO2 per year as a result of Chinese coal fired plants than Canadian oil sands.

As for environmental rules and regulations which pertain to oil production, Canada is lily white compared to its global peers. For example, Canada began regulating sulphur emissions associated with producing oil and gas long before any other country and still leads the U.S. by a wide margin. Our oil sands bitumen has a lower environmental and CO2 impact than California heavy oil which emits 9% more CO2. And our environmental practices are head and shoulders above oil-producing countries like Venezuela which feed the U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.

There are many things we Canadians can legitimately self criticize. Our national animal is a beaver, we are painfully polite and we can be nasty in the corners on the hockey rink. However, the evil villain of global climate change we most certainly are not. If fellow Canadians like Leader of the Opposition Thomas Mulcair and Thomas Homer Dixon are sincerely concerned about global warming, they should focus on the real issues and stop using the false pretense of Keystone XL and the Canadian oil sands for political or personal gain.

MALIBU, Calif. -- The No. 1-ranked USC beach volleyball team (1-0) opened defense of its back-to-back national titles with a 3-2 win over No. 3-ranked crosstown rival UCLA (2-2) on the sands of Zuma Beach in the Pepperdine Kick-Off on Saturday, March 4. The Trojans ran their record winning-streak to 31 consecutive duals and remained undefeated against the Bruins with a 6-0 all-time mark.

The two rivals put in hard-fought first sets across the board, but the Trojans went ahead first when seniors Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes completed a 21-19, 21-12 win over Megan and Nicole McNamara at the top court. The No. 1 USC duo ran their winning streak to 74 straight. Last year, Claes and Hughes dropped just one set all year, and it was to the McNamaras at Zuma Beach.

Moments later, USC seized a 2-0 lead in the dual when the newly formed pair of junior Terese Cannon and senior Nicolette Martin took down Savvy Simo and Torrey Van Winden at court three with a 21-16, 21-18 victory. UCLA fired back to get a win at court four where Izzy Carey and Elise Zappia earned a 21-19, 21-15 win against sophomore Abril Bustamante and freshman Joy Dennis.

Courts two and five each went the distance, but the decision was put in by the Trojans' junior duo of Jenna Belton and Jo Kremer as they defeated Chanti Holroyd and Lily Justine, 21-18, 17-21, 15-11. With the match clinched for the Trojans, the Bruins claimed one more point at court two when Kamila Tan and Madi Yeomans defeated seniors Sophie Bukovec and Allie Wheeler in three sets, 16-21, 21-17, 15-11.

The Trojans have a short rest before they take on No. 4-ranked tournament host Pepperdine (1-0) on the sands at Zuma Beach. Last year, on the opening day of the season, the Waves defeated the Trojans. It was one of just two USC losses all season.

For more information on the two-time national champion USC beach volleyball team and a complete schedule, please visit USCTrojans.com and follow @USCBeach on Facebook, Twitter, Periscope, Instagram, and Snapchat.

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