Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Page 18
Page 19
Page 20
Page 21
Page 22
Page 23
Page 24
CNRLpipelinebreachspillsoilnearSlaveLakeSpilliscompanystenthincidentthisyearinAlbertaOilsandsemissionslinkedtohealthproblemsregulatorEnvironmentOilsandsEnvironmentOilSpill7TuesdayApril82014PhotoJean-PhilippeMarquisPhotocourtesyofCNRLByMEAGANWOHLBERGTheAlbertaEnergyRegula-torAERisonceagaininves-tigatinganincidentinvolvingoilcompanyCanadianNatu-ralResourcesLtd.CNRLinnorthernAlbertafollowingapipelineleaknearSlaveLakethatspilled70000litresofcrudeandwastewater.ThecompanystenthincidentthisyearthepipelinebreachwasreportedonWednesdaywhentheleakwasfound.AccordingtoCNRLspokespersonZoeAdding-tonthespillwascomposedof1750litresofoiland68250litresofprocessedwater.Thecompanyisinvesti-gatingthecauseoftheleakwhichwastheresultofanonsitepipefailureandleakedforlessthanthreehours.AlltheuidiscontainedandtheoilhasbeenfullyByMEAGANWOHLBERGEvictedlandownersawait-ingacourtdecisiononthefateofoilsandsoperationsneartheirpropertiesinthePeaceRiverareareceivedadifferentvictorylastweekwithndingsfromaregulator-ledinquirylinkingoilsandsemissionstohealthproblems.TheAlbertaEnergyRegu-latorAERreleaseditsreportlastweekfollowingapublicin-vestigationintothecomplaintsofresidentsinthePeaceRiverareawhoallegethatodoursandemissionsfromnearbyinsituoperationsarecausingasuiteofhealthproblemsandhaveforcedseveralfamiliesfromtheirhomes.ThereportfoundthatodourscausedbytheheavyoiloperationsinthePeaceRiverareadohavethepo-tentialtocausesomeofthehealthsymptomsex-hibitedbyresidentswhohavecomplainedofnau-searespiratoryproblemsheadachesdizzinessskinrashesnosebleedsandothersymptomswhichtheysayarecausedbyemissionsfromnearbyheatedbitu-menstoragetanks.TheAERencouragedfur-therstudiestodeterminewhattheconnectioncouldbebetweenemissionsandthehealthproblemsandrecom-mendedthatAlbertaHealthlinklocalphysicianswithen-vironmentalhealthspecialists.Initsreportbasedoneightdaysofpublichearingstheregulatorputforth20recommendationsfocusedoneliminatingodoursandemissionstothegreat-estextentpossibleaskingcompaniestostopventingandcaptureproducedgaswithvapourrecoveryunitswithinthenextfourmonths.Operationalchangesmustbeimplementedintheareatoeliminateventingreducearingandultimatelycon-serveallproducedgaswherefeasiblethereportstates.Callingthecurrentregula-toryframeworkineffectiveatmanaginghydrocarbonodoursandemissionsinthePeaceRiverareatheAERrecommendsestablishingalocalizedregulatoryap-proachtoheavyoildevel-opmentgiventheuniquegeologyandlargevolumeofodourcomplaintsfromarearesidentsandupdat-ingtheexistingregulationstoincludeenforcementac-tionsforaringandvent-ingforoff-leasehydrocar-bonodours.TheAERalsorecommendsinitiatingaregionalairqual-itymonitoringprogramtoverifyimprovedairqualityandprovidestakeholderswithrelevantandplainlan-guagedata.Whileoilandgasdevel-opmenthasbeenoccurringinthePeaceRiverareasincethe1950stheAERnotesitwasnotuntilthelastdecadethattechno-logicaladvanceshavebeenmadetoaddressodourandemissionproblems.DespiteeffortsbycompaniestoresolvetheproblemstheAERnotesthecomplaintshavecontinued.Ithopestherecommendedmeasureshelpquellthosecomplaints.Lookingforwardthepaneliscondentthatthenecessaryworkwillbeun-dertakentoaddresstherec-ommendationsinthisreportandthattheproposedmea-sureswillhelpresolvemanyoftheconcernsofthearearesidentsthereportstates.AlainLabrecqueoneoftheresidentswhomovedhisfamilyfromtheareaafterexperiencingnegativehealthimpactssaidthereportisveryencouragingandastepintherightdirectioninndingsolutionsforthelandownersbutworriesitleavesthedooropenforcontinuedinactiononthepartofcompanies.Despitecallingfortotaleliminationofventingout-sideofemergencysitua-tionstheAERsrecom-mendationsallowforaringtocontinueatalimitof3percentoftheannualop-erationtimewhereasmostresidentsarecompletelyop-posedtoaring.ImpleasedwiththesupportfromtheAERLabrecquesaid.Butitstillleavesopennessforthenearfuturehere...Wewereneverinsupportofhavingthesevapoursared.Ifyoucanimagineitsasmallsmallareathatwouldhave23ares.Companiesareaskedtoconductfeasibilitystudiesintooptionsandtimelinesforcon-servinggasbyOct.31afterwhichtimetheAERwillre-quireoperatorstoimplementappropriateconservationplans.Labrecquesaidthisallow-ancecouldletcompaniesoffthehookanddoesntsolveproblemsforfamiliesstilllivinginthearea.Thefeasibilitystudyisalittlebittroublingbecauseitsshowingthedoororthewayoutiftheycanproveitsnotfeasibleoreconom-icallyviableforthemhesaid.Theresbeennorec-ommendationstodoany-thingimmediatelyforthesefamilies.Nobodysbeenhelpedatallasfaraswhattodonow.Itstillcouldbeuptoafewyearsawaybythetimethesefeasibilitystudiestakeplace...andthencomeupwithaplantocon-servethesevapourswithoutaring.ThereportnotedthatShellcurrentlyconservesmostofthegasfromitscoldandthermaloperationsandthatBaytexhascommittedtoin-stallingtherequiredpipe-linesforgasconservation.LabrecqueandhiscousinBriantookBaytexEnergytocourtlastmonthdemand-ingtheoilcompanyhaltitsbitumenproductionintheRenoeldneartheirprop-ertiesuntilthehealthcom-plaintsandventingissuescouldbeaddressed.ThetrialwasheldinPeaceRiverlastmonthandade-cisionhasyettobemadeontherequestforaninjunction.recoveredAddingtonsaid.Thespillwasonleaseandnotnearanypeoplewaterorwildlife.AccordingtoGreenpeacethecompanyhashadnearlytwiceasmanyincidentsinAlbertaasanyothercom-panyoverthelastdecade.CNRLiscurrentlybattlingaseriesofundergroundleaksatitsPrimroseoilsandssitenearColdLakewherebitumenhasbeenunstoppablyoozingtothesurfaceformorethan10monthsatfourseparatesites.Morethan11000barrelsofoilhavecometothesurfaceandaround6300collected.ThoughtheAERinvestiga-tionintotheleaksisongoingthecompanyattributestheleakstowell-borefailures.AnadditionalleakatthePrimrosesiteinJanuarysaw27000litresofbitumenbreachacementwellcasingandseepintoanadjacentrocklayerthoughnooilcametothesurface.CNRLrecentlyrequestedpermissiontorestartproduc-tionatitsPrimrosesitewhichhasbeensuspendedsincelastJunewhentheleakswerediscoveredbutwasturneddownbytheAER.Thecompanyalsocameunderrefromtheprovin-cialgovernmentlastmonthforreleasinghydrogensul-phidegasfromitsHorizonupgraderfacilitynearFortMcMurraylastAugustandisnowfacing11charges.Alltheuidiscontainedandtheoilhasbeenfullyrecovered.Thespillwasonleaseandnotnearanypeoplewaterorwildlife.ZoeAddingtonCanadianNaturalResourcesLtd.BitumenoozesfromthegroundatCNRLsPrimrosesitenearColdLakeinaseparatebutongoingoilspillincidentinAlberta.Thecompanyhasreported10incidentsinoneyear.AnewreportbytheAlbertaEnegyRegulatorsaysemissionsfromheatedbitumenstoragetanksinthePeaceRiverareacouldberesponsibleforresidentshealthproblemsfollowingapublicinquiryintoodoursandemissionsintheregion.