Oil & Gas

Could a "BP" happen here?

Could an environmental disaster on a scale similar to BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill happen here?

A spokesperson for the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB), Alberta's chief energy industry regulator, argues that it's very unlikely.

"The short answer is that it couldn’t happen on land because the logistical difficulties that exist with a deepwater spill simply aren’t in play," says Bob Curran. "[Also] there really aren’t any wells in Alberta that are comparable to the wells they are drilling in the Gulf."

Well, yes, there is that little thing about the lack of an ocean in the province.

And, as Curran alludes to, giant oil finds on the scale of the BP well — U.S. government scientists estimate that between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels a day are leaking into the Gulf — just don't occur any longer in Alberta’s mature basin, where the size of oil discoveries is smaller.

But that doesn't mean Albertans should be complacent and assume the province is immune from environmental disasters.

Just ask Gerry DeSorcy.

DeSorcy, a regulatory consultant with more than 45 years of experience, 38 of those with the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (now realigned as the Energy Resources Conservation Board and the Alberta Utilities Commission, which separately oversee the oil and gas and utility sectors, respectively), says it's basically a matter of scale.

"The setting is very different [because there is no deep ocean oil extraction in Alberta] and wells producing 25,000 or 40,000 barrels per day just don't exist in the province," says DeSorcy, who was the former chairman and chief executive officer of the province's top energy regulator. "But it's startling to hear politicians and others say it couldn't happen here. It could."

But the "it" would be different.

"It's not a case of a reservoir running wild," he says.

However, environmental disasters are possible in the oilsands, he says.

"There could be a pipeline break there,” says DeSorcy. “Also there could be a structural failure of a dike or a dam up there [that contains the tailings ponds]. It's conceivable there could be some stored [petroleum] product getting into a body of water in the oilsands."

Another possibility is sour gas escaping from a gas well, something that has occurred in the past on a large scale in Alberta.

The most infamous case of sour gas leakage occurred in the Lodgepole area, about 130 kilometres southwest of Edmonton. In 1982, two workers were killed at a wellsite there, and 280,000 tonnes of tonnes of sour gas were spewed into the air.

"The potential for a sour gas leak is greater than for oil," DeSorcy notes. "A sour gas well leak would emit H2S [hydrogen sulphide gas], which is dangerous to the public."

However, he says the ERCB has implemented strict standards for sour gas wells, including a requirement that operators install blowout prevention equipment and have planning in place to respond to a leak, including igniting the gas and rendering it relatively harmless.

Oil and gas companies co-operate to ensure they have enough equipment to respond to spills and other potential environmental problems, he adds, which should provide the public with a degree of confidence.

RESPONSE TIMES

Bob Dunbar, an oilsands industry consultant who spent 10 years with the ERCB as the manager of its oilsands department, followed by 12 years with Petro-Canada, says it's unlikely there will be a major environmental disaster in the oilsands.

He says the most likely place for a serious spill would be in the case of pipelines crossing the Athabasca River. Both Syncrude Canada and Suncor Energy have pipelines crossing the waterway, both moving "significant volumes" of oil.

"But in those cases the pipeline operators have shut-off valves that could be closed that would isolate the spill almost instantaneously," he says.

Dunbar also believes operators and regulators can respond quickly to a sour gas leak.

"On average there have been 10,000 wells drilled a year in Alberta, but I think effective regulations have been developed over that time and, the fact is, drilling on land is less technologically complex than drilling in the ocean," he explains.

Adam Driedzic, staff counsel for the Edmonton-based Environmental Law Centre, which helps the public deal with environmental issues, says the BP disaster has caused him to review the issue of energy industry–caused disasters.

He says he worries about industry and government response to a disaster, and about compensation for those harmed. His concern about the response to disasters stems from where most energy projects are located — rural areas.

Rural areas usually have volunteer fire departments and very little other equipment or trained manpower to respond to accidents or environmental disasters. Driedzic says industry should be required to provide emergency response capacity.

He also believes the legal system in Canada puts individuals affected by bad environmental practices by industry at a distinct disadvantage.

"Individuals would have to use tort law, under which it's very difficult to establish negligence in the case of harm to property or people," Driedzic explains.

In the U.S. it is much easier for individuals to establish the liability of corporations.

Because of this it's very unlikely there will ever be an Alberta version of Erin Brockovich, who was played by Julia Roberts in a 2000 film. Brockovich was the legal assistant who helped cancer-plagued residents living near a lake polluted by a California utility company gain millions of dollars in compensation.

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