By Don Patterson
Staff Reporter
Ranchers, a municipal district, landowner groups and others are lining up against a Petro Canada proposal to construct a series of wells and a pipeline in the eastern slopes area.
“This pipeline is a precedent that will continue to fracture what exists on the eastern slopes. It’s a pristine, ancient, adapted landscape that is 10,000 years old and it deserves better,” said Pekisko Group member Francis Gardner.
Petro Canada has applied to Alberta’s Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB) for 11 sour gas wells and two pipelines, running parallel to each other, from the Sullivan Creek area, west of Longview, into the MD of Ranchlands and the Kananaskis Improvement District. The pipelines would connect to 11 wells proposed to be drilled north of the Eden Valley Reserve, with the closest well about two kilometres from the reserve.
A pre-hearing was held in Longview on March 18 to determine possible dates for the final hearing, who will have status as an intervener and the scope of the issues involved in the application.
Petro Canada spokesperson Kyle Happy said the company is confident the project can be built safely and supports holding a hearing to review the application.
“We pride ourselves on an open and principled development and a key component of that is listening to what people have to say. Going through the hearing process just provides another check and balance against the work we’ve already done,” he said.
Concerns about the project’s impact on the area and its native rough fescue grass has the Pekisko Group seeking intervener status through the ERCB.
“Once you put a pipeline through it or once you put an oil road, or driveway or anything like that, you fracture the continuity of that habitat. The implications of that are profound and they’re not well understood,” said Gardner.
During the pre-hearing, ERCB members were urged to accept the Southern Foothills Study as evidence. The study looks at the area between Turner Valley and Highway 3 and identifies the cumulative impact of human activities in the region and possible steps to reduce this impact.
“That’s the kind of thing that needs to be incorporated into the fact-finding missions in order to establish the validity of these projects,” said Gardner.
As well, he said the project should be tabled until the provincial Land-Use Framework is completed. During the recent provincial election campaign, Sustainable Resources Minister Ted Morton said the framework will call for a plan for the eastern slopes area and will recommend water conservation and recreation as priority land uses for the area.
“The big thing now, and it’s pivotal to this whole hearing, is whether they hold off and let the Land-Use Framework come into play before they go forward. If they don’t it literally makes a sham of the new Land-Use Framework,” he said.
The MD of Ranchlands has also requested intervener status in the approval process over concerns about safety and the project’s impact on the municipality and the environment.
MD Coun. Cam Gardner said the routing of the pipeline is not in the best interest of Albertans because of the importance of the Eastern Slopes and the surrounding ecosystem.
“The bottom line is we don’t believe the environment should pay to make a proposed gas play economical. If they can find another way to do it without so much impact to the environment, we may be a little more approachable,” he said.
Cam Gardner said the MD is also concerned about whether winter evacuation plans are adequate because most of the roads to the west are closed in the winter.
“Currently, we don’t have to maintain or open those roads. We’re not even sure if Petro Canada proposes that,” he added.
Cam Gardner acknowledged previous attempts by other municipalities to be recognized as an intervener have been unsuccessful. If the MD doesn’t get status, he said it will still ensure its view is heard.
Happy said the project has been in the works for three years and, during that time, the company has worked with stakeholders to address and mitigate any concerns they may have.
He said the project wouldn’t be built all at once. If approved, he said it would take 18 months to develop the necessary infrastructure and it’s hoped the project could see gas flowing by 2009 or 2010.
While a portion of the pipeline will be inside the Kananaskis Improvement District, he said it will go through an area zoned for multi-use purposes.
Speaking for the company during the hearing, William Corbett, lead counsel for Petro Canada, said the board shouldn’t have to wait until the Land-Use Framework is completed before making a decision. He said the government had the option of issuing a moratorium on energy development in the area until the framework is complete, but didn’t.
“Petro Canada has and will comply with all legislation and regulations required. No one at this stage can expect what will be required under a provincial Land-Use Framework,” he said.
He said the Foothills study is an evolving document and should be accepted through the same process as any other evidence.
Darin Barter, Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board senior advisor, said the board will set a hearing date and make a decision regarding intervener status within 30 days.
“We’ll take all that evidence back to make a decision, all of it will be decided,” he said.
An intervener will receive funding and can submit evidence to the board. Non-interveners can make presentations, which will go on the record at the hearing, but will not be accepted as evidence.
|
