Ryan and Kelly Korbo are like many young farmers: There never seems to be enough money to pay the bills.
When a seismic company offered the St. Lena, Alta., farmers $650 to cross their land looking for oil and gas last summer, they thought it was manna from heaven.
“We thought this was a bonus. The money was nice when we were penny pinching,” said Ryan.
But the money turned out not to be heaven sent.
Shortly after the seismic company crossed their land, the water well used for their house and livestock went dry. Ryan believes it was directly related to the dynamite blasting associated with seismic exploration. He has since spent $18,000 to haul water and have another well drilled.
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“The $600 we thought was a bonus ended up to be a curse.”
After meeting with government officials, having the well inspected and dealing with the geophysical company, the Korbos received $1,500 from the seismic company and $2,000 from the Office of the Farmers’ Advocate’s Water Well Restoration Program.
“It hasn’t really been a good experience,” said Korbo, who wishes he had asked more questions before allowing the company to cross his land.
“We made stupid mistakes, no denying it.”
Korbo feels it may be too late to get more compensation from the seismic company, but feels other farmers should be warned not to accept what a seismic company offers without asking plenty of questions.
Paul Vasseur, with the Farmers’ Advocate office, said farmers should realize when a seismic company crosses their land, the farmer is in complete control.
“If you want them to follow your conditions they must abide,” said Vasseur, adding the rules are different for pipelines and drilling well sites.
“For seismic operations, the landowner is 100 percent completely in control on his property.”
The farmer can dictate how far the trucks are from wells or building sites. They can make the companies fill shot holes from top to bottom or can refuse access completely. Farmers can also insist the company have water wells tested before and after exploration work.
There are thousands of kilometres of seismic work each year in Alberta and it isn’t common for wells to go dry from the activity, said Vasseur.
Last year there were 24 applications to his office to help retore wells under the Water Well Restoration Program.
To help farmers deal with seismic companies, the advocate’s office is revising its brochure on seismic operations to include updated regulations.
Before, no activity could be closer than 180 metres from buildings or wells. New regulations will allow activity to be within 60 metres of buildings or water wells if the dynamite charge is no larger than two kilograms. Consent is still needed from the landowner.
