Coal Bed Methane under scrutiny

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On a visit to Nanaimo on April 15 Environment Minister David Anderson expressed no enthusiasm for offshore oil and gas exploration, but said he was not averse to drilling for coalbed methane gas on Vancouver Island.

The Nanaimo Daily News reported Anderson as saying, "Onshore drilling for methane would be a very interesting proposition." He added that he had no concerns for drilling on land for coalbed methane because the technology is proven and the environmental effects are minimal.

Environmental groups disagree. So do some farmers in the United States who have taken state governments to court, claiming the water used in coalbed methane extraction is a form of pollution that can harm crops.

Still, representatives from the Naut'sa mawt Tribal Council (NmTC), Yiasulth Management Corporation (YMC) and Akita Drilling Limited are pleased with Anderson's statement.

The three organizations have recently signed a memorandum of association that outlines their commitment to prepare for opportunities in coalbed methane extraction on Vancouver Island.

NmTC chair, Chief John Wesley of the Snuneymuxw First Nation said, "We're pleased with the progress thus far. Initially we were skeptical because we heard about negative impacts of the oil and gas industry. However, we have done our homework and are pleased with the industry's environmental and safety records."

"We're certainly positive about Mr. Anderson's statement," said Rob Hunt, senior vice-president of Akita Drilling.

"The industry has to take a step-by-step approach to development on the Island. If we can show that something as basic as coalbed methane development can be done safely and in an environmentally responsible way, then perhaps we may be able to take big rigs and set them up on land and drill out directionally under water so that there is no impact in the water."

The long-term goal, Hunt said, is to prove that Akita can operate responsibly on Vancouver Island and perhaps in time drill for offshore oil and gas.

Akita Drilling is already active in coalbed methane extraction in Alberta, where they have formed partnerships with three First Nation groups.

Keith Wilson, administrator of the NmTC, said the next step for the tribal council is to send people to Alberta for job training.

"They will go to Alberta to work on a rig that we may or may not have an interest in. We're still negotiating on that," Wilson said.

"That rig will work in southern Alberta until such time as the government here decides what they're going to do on coalbed methane. If and when that happens, ostensibly the rig would come here and we'd have trained crews to operate it."

Coalbed methane exists in large quantities on Vancouver Island, particularly in the Comox and Nanaimo areas where coal mining was once an extremely profitable industry.

Coalbed methane does not necessarily exist on reserve land, Wilson said, but First Nations believe that the methane was here long before Europeans came to the country so they have a role to play in the benefits derived from it.

"This is strictly an economic development thing," he said.

Wilson admitted that coalbed methane drilling had run into serious environmental problems in the United States. That won't happen here, he said.

"The type of formation we have here is not the same as in the States but that's an estimate at best. No one has even looked yet at what might be there. But what they're saying to us is that the reserves here would potentially be less impacted by water and some of the most severe damage in the U.S. is where they were pumping off the salt water to lower the pressure and they were just letting the water run out on the land."

Wilson added that Akita Drilling has assured the NmTC that there would be no work done until all the environmental studies had been done.

"Basically, if we can't do it cleanly we're not going to do it. From an Aboriginal perspective, that's the comfort they neede to move forward."

Akita operates 36 drilling rigs throughout Western Canada and the northern territories. In 50 years the company has had no significant environmental problems, Hunt said. He added that coal in Canada tended to be drier than coal in the United States.

"There are regulations in place both federally and provincially that would never allow to happen in Canada what happened in the United States."

The NmTC has 60 days to negotiate the details of its relationship with Akita.