EDMONTON – Although crews capped an out-of-control oil well near Evansburg on New Year’s Day, the sticky black marks of disaster will be evident on a nearby farm for some time.
Stan and Patricia McGowan were visiting relatives in Penticton, B.C. for Christmas when the pipe ruptured at an Amoco Canada drilling rig, about 90 kilometres west of Edmonton, on Dec. 21. The couple rushed home Christmas Eve to find their home an oily mess.
Near the well, about 1,000 barrels of oil each day bubbled to the surface to form a huge black lagoon. The fractured pipe also sprayed a sticky film on snow, pets and the house at the McGowan residence, roughly 200 metres from the drilling site.
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federal government proposed several months ago to increase the compensation rate from 80 to 90 per cent and double the maximum payment from $3 million to $6 million
Still no word
Today, the future of their home remains in question.
The company shoveled out the blackened snow and used high-pressure hoses to spray the oily residue off the house, power lines and other nearby buildings, but Amoco will need to conduct tests on the soil, groundwater and air for contamination.
“It’s too early to tell because it just happened. Everything’s still up in the air, so we don’t know what’s going to be the final outcome of the whole thing,” said Patricia McGowan.
In total, mopping up the oily muck could cost Amoco as much as $3 million.
Gay Robinson, communications adviser at Amoco, called the incident a rare occurrence.
“We realize this is our responsibility. Exactly how much (compensation) and the rest of the details will be worked out over time,” she said.
But the thought of giving up their dream for money doesn’t console the McGowans.
“It was our home … a place where my children and grandchildren like to come home to,” said Patricia.
“This is where we planned to retire, raise a few cattle and live. We both like the farm. I love my farm. I like the lifestyle. I’m a farmer at heart I guess.
“My husband worked for a long time to have this. It’s been very stressful.”
The couple plans to rent a nearby house during the interim.
The multinational petroleum company expects to start talks with the McGowans about compensation later this year.
A puncture in the pipe bringing up the oil from the well’s bottom – 2.4 kilometres beneath the surface – created the disaster. The fractured tube caused oil to bubble up in several places in the area.
To cap the well, workers poured mud and cement down the wellhead to stop oil from bubbling to the surface.
Investigators discovered a hole in the tubing about 10 metres below the surface.
