EVANSBURG, Alta. – A year after an oil well blowout spewed oil over an Alberta farmyard, one farmer affected and the oil company have yet to settle on compensation.
Amoco Canada and farmer Franz Richter have not agreed to compensation for cattle losses and herd impact from an oily spray that landed on Richter’s farm.
Last Dec. 21, a 16-year-old oil well erupted while being fitted to draw from a new level. Natural gas forced oil from the ground and into the sky less than 200 metres from Patricia and Stan McGowan’s farm house. In the 10 days that followed more than 1,500 cubic metres of oil coated the area.
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The McGowan family was on holiday and returned to a farm which they would never inhabit again. As part of the family’s settlement Amoco agreed to pay for the purchase of another farm in the area and the move.
Showered with oil
A kilometre away, Franz Richter’s cattle herd was lightly showered with oil. Both Richter and Amoco had the cattle tested after birthing problems and sick animals began to plague the farm.
“We have just gotten all the results back about a month ago from the tests and we recognize that our oil has caused some problems for Mr. Richter and his partner’s herd. We are still negotiating compensation,” said Gay Robinson, of Amoco.
Both Richter and Amoco employed veterinarians to study the problems with the herd.
Today the McGowan’s former farmhouse serves as a work station for the clean-up crew trying to draw the oil from the heavily contaminated earth using a giant thermal reactor. A crop of oats lies in nearby fields, unharvested due to the poor weather, but it served to break down hydrocarbons left by the spill.
Trees remain blackened with oil but Amoco said they survived and new shoots have appeared from the stained branches.
“We are pleased with the way the cleanup has gone. The only problem we are working on is what to do with the sludge that remains mixed with drillers’ mud, oil and water. We hope to have that problem dealt with by summer,” said Robinson. The cleanup is expected to cost about $3 million and crews have yet to tackle about 2,000 cubic metres of sludge that remains.
“I hope we are close to a settlement. We have been working on it,” said Richter, who has heavily reduced his cattle herd as a result of the accident.
Both Richter and the McGowan family refused further comment.
