November 27 2007 | News Clippings | The Terrace Daily
Council, Shell and Conservation Group
Shell's Kathy Penny, Doug Ford and Larry Lalonde defend their company's proposed coalbed methane project in the Sacred Headwaters, birthplace of the Skeena, Nass and Stikine Rivers.
Terrace City Council has entertained presentations from two different groups regarding the Skeena Watershed and the proposal to drill for coal bed methane gas in the Klappan area just South and East of Iskut. At the sitting of Terrace City Council on November 13th the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition (SWCC), represented by Shannon McPhail, addressed the Councillors after making a formal request. On Monday November 26, Royal Dutch Shell attended with three representatives; Kathy Penney, Larry Lablonde and Douglas Ford, after the City requested their attendance to speak to the concerns raised by the conservation group.
This is a relatively new fuel energy concept and has few parallels to draw from to provide the audience with, “this is how it is done over here”, examples that either presenter could use. The concept however seems to be quite basic.
There is a large coal bed in the Klappan region and Royal Dutch Shell is attempting to determine if there is enough methane trapped within it to extract it and pipe it to consumers. At the present time they claim that they simply do not know whether the project is economically feasible. If they were able to do their work uninterrupted they claim the earliest that they would be able to be into commercial production would be 2017 and this of course depends on the success of their investigative drilling program.
The methane, according to the SWCC, is held within the coal bed by water pressure. To reach the methane gas Shell would need to drill down into the coal bed and remove the water, which would then release the gas. This gas, much like the natural gas that we use in our homes, would then be piped out of the region to the consumers. Penney and Ford, the representatives from Shell, confirmed much of this description and they detailed the layers of geology that their drilling pipes would pass through. They described how the drill piping would pass through the first ground water layer and then through to the water in the coal bed taking time to explain how the water from one layer would never get mixed with the other. They then described how the new environmental regulations prohibited the spilling of waters drawn out of these sources onto the ground, stating that they had arranged to truck the water out of the area. They told us that they were permitted to re-inject the water into spent holes and cavities. At present there are no spent cavities.
The SWCC expressed various concerns with the concept even being considered in the pristine Skeena watershed. Primary of these concerns was the issue of the water, the migration of the water into other areas and finding its way into the Skeena endangering the Salmon and other habitat. McPhail spoke about communities in Alberta that now have to truck in their drinking water due to the contamination experienced where these sites have been located. She suggested that the Skeena Watershed was a complex wetland that was more like a sponge with no bedrock and stated that the gas and water will migrate around the coal bed once it is disturbed.
“What will happen?” she asked, “no one knows.” The suggestion was that the water would find its way out of the confines of the coal bed into the other areas of the Skeena watershed eventually ending up in areas that would be hazardous. McPhail spoke about the 900 possible different “Fraccing” chemicals that might be used that aren’t revealed as they are considered a trade secret.
Many statements were made to create a sense of fear around the proposed project the worst (silliest) of which was suggesting that it was the methane that killed the canaries in the coalmines. Better concerns raised were her claims that the Oil and Gas Commission, the regulatory body, is 100% funded by industry and that the company has reneged on a promise and discharged directly into the Elk River in South East BC. Other claims made were that Salmon exposed to the discharge had a 100% mortality within 96 hours and that spawning Chinook are within 300 meters of a proposed site.
Penney countered many of these concerns and claimed that their drilling operations were no where near the river, that her company had the time, patience and money to do it right, claiming that it was better than a lot of smaller companies cutting it up. When it came to regulatory approvals and environmental studies she acknowledged that, as they were still in the exploration stage, they did not yet have to complete this process confirming what McPhail stated when she claimed that the environmental assessments were not sufficient.
Councillor Downie boldly stated that the Councillors were flat out told that the environmental assessments were not sufficient by the SWCC, which is true considering that the studies are not required at this stage.
While the exploration stage takes place many more wells will be drilled. Penney stated that they have licenses for 14 more wells on top of the 3 wells they drilled in 2004. They intend on getting their equipment in this winter, for the first time since 2004, after the ground freezes and will perform a pilot project of 4 to 8 wells and then flare them, as they do not have the pipe to contain the gas.
“We have to do several pilots” she stated.
Councillor Pollard asked how this project would benefit the people of Terrace and raised the specter of the projects self-sufficiency when it was completed. Penney acknowledged that the project could be operated remotely but claimed that it is always better to have people on the ground and continued by addressing the benefits of the construction phase.
Councillor LeClerc asked about the impact of the recently announced loss of the Highway 37 power line extension and of Galore Creek shutting down. Penney replied that with the gas they would have their own power generating plant. They actually hoped to provide companies like Galore Creek with the power to develop their operations she explained.
Mayor Talstra thought outside the box and asked about the coal, its ownership, and if it was going to be extracted. Penney explained that Fortune Minerals has the rights to the coal and has also been doing exploratory work. She stated that they have the tenures for the gas only and that they have to prove the resource before 2012 or they could loose that tenure.
“You would want us in first.” She stated, explaining that after the coal is gone so is the gas.