A windfall of energy royalty revenues has built an Alberta treasury that is the envy of the rest of Canada.
However, some landowners are worried regulations are falling behind the frenzy of drilling for the newest resource, coalbed methane. They fear large sections of agricultural land could suffer costly and irreparable environmental damage.
But coalbed methane extraction follows the same established rules as natural gas, said Darin Barter of the regulatory body, Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, or EUB.
“It is natural gas and we have been regulating natural gas successfully for decades,” he said.
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Regulations for this resource were adapted in the late 1980s.
Coalbed methane is a clean, sweet natural gas found in coal formations. It requires minimal processing from the ground to a household furnace.
“You could almost run a pipeline from a coalbed methane well into your home and use it. It’s that clean,” Barter said.
But there are major differences in its extraction compared to conventional natural gas. Energy companies must fracture the coal formations with saline water and chemicals, then add high pressure from above ground compressors to make it flow through pipelines. It also requires many more wells per section than conventional gas.
Water management raises flags for many.
There are provincial regulations that cover water. In the case of a fresh water formation, it cannot be removed without a provincial water licence. Saline water must go back into a deep reservoir in the ground rather than allowed to drain on the surface.
To address environmental and well density questions, the government set up an advisory committee to hear public concerns. It drafted recommendations that went to the province and new regulations could be written.
“Government will act upon them as they see fit. If our regulations need to be changed, we are going to change them,” Barter said.
A common criticism is that the EUB is overwhelmed, hearing too many applications and ignoring public questions about water safety, noise suppression and well density.
“There is no question we are busy. But understaffed, absolutely not,” Barter said.
One member of the advisory committee said this fast moving industry requires monitoring and agreed that the EUB is struggling to keep up with regulations.
“There is always a time lag between the requirements and the latest technology,” said adviser Mary Griffiths, an environmental analyst with the Pembina Institute.
Also critical is Alan Gardner, executive director of the Southern Alberta Land Trust. He believes the EUB is a good organization but it is not handling this resource well. It does not have enough power to monitor and protect the environment or assess the effects of high density wells, pipelines and roads.
“They are very limited in how they can deal with environmental issues,” he said. His group joined with local municipal districts to fund a study on the cumulative effects if energy production expands in the region.
“It is important for the government to do a proper cost accounting. And when you take a look at the area we are looking at in the native grass area of the eastern slopes (of the Rockies), we believe there is some real economic work that has to be done,” Gardner said.
Norma LaFonte, a land agent and consultant to the Wheat Land Surface Rights Action Group at Strathmore, said the government and EUB are under pressure to forge ahead as natural gas reserves are depleted.
She said the advisory committee’s proposals might be overlooked or tabled for so long they will have no impact. Further, there was no advance land planning and no effort to harness the activity until all concerns were addressed properly.
“It is happening so fast that knowledge has not been able to keep pace with development,” LaFonte said.
She wants the 23-year-old Surface Rights Act reviewed and a broader mandate given to the EUB to properly assess the industrialization of the rural landscape.
She also wants exploration of the potential impacts on health, safety and the quality of life in small communities.
Without some foresight and better planning, the perception of two Albertas will only widen.
“There are those with oil and gas development and then there is everyone else,” she said.
