Bitumen leak not revealed publicly until fourth site incident

Cold Lake First Nation is demanding answers from Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. after it came to light that bitumen emulsion has been seeping into the ground.

In a strongly worded statement released Aug. 8, Chief Bernice Martial stated, “We are extremely alarmed with the environmental damage from the blow out… and we are now demanding answers and want factual information on the contamination….”

On June 27, the Alberta Energy Regulator announced that it was “responding to a release of bitumen emulsion to surface at a high pressure cyclic steam project on the Cold Lake Air Weapons Range.” It was the fourth and largest such emulsion-to-surface incident all of which, CNRL says, were reported to AER. However, AER did not publicize the earlier incidents.

In an interview with Sweetgrass involving the Apache Canada Ltd. spill on the Dene Tha First Nation in June, AER spokesperson Bob Curran said as “spills do occur in Alberta,” statements are not issued unless the spill has a public impact, environmental impact or if there is an ongoing operational issue, such as an inability to shut down the line.

In a conference call held July 31, CNRL President Steve Laut said clean-up operations were ongoing.

“Bitumen emulsion will continue to seep at ever-declining rates for a period of time,” he said, noting that estimated seepage from the location was less than 20 barrels per day.

He said CNRL was “confident” that the seepage was due to the mechanical failure of wellbores in the impacted locations and had a “pretty good idea of the likely wellbores.”

Laut also said the company was reviewing similar wellbores to ensure compliance.

The six-week long bitumen leak impacted 20 hectares of land, killing wildlife and birds.

“We’re already in court with (CNRL) because they said they didn’t have to consult us. And now then this happened and our Chief is worried about if this is going to affect our on-going court piece,” said Councillor Kelsey Jacko.

And a fly-over of the area on Aug. 3 has not appeased Jacko.
“It doesn’t look good,” he said.

Jacko is concerned about the ongoing impact oil and gas development will have on the region as woodland caribou and whooping cranes continue to be displaced.

Martial is demanding that Cold Lake First Nation be involved in remediation efforts.

“Our community needs to be respectfully involved in the remediation of this environmental disaster as our health and safety hangs in the balance. We live, hunt, fish in the area and need to know the damage that has been done to our land, water and wildlife,” she said.

What makes this particular incident worse, says Jacko, is that the seepage occurred below ground, and the old adage “what you can’t see can’t bother you” can easily come into play.

 “I’m really scared,” he said. “I don’t want the projects to expand. I want them to stop and if they’re going to do it, I want them to do it right.”

Caption: Members of First Nations and environmental groups gathered in front of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. office in Calgary to protest both the June 24 spill on the traditional lands of Cold Lake and Beaver Cree First Nations and lack of information being shared by the oil and gas developer.