February 17 2009 » News Clippings » Terrace Standard
Drilling Decision Should Be Local
-Nicole Glover
ROYAL DUTCH Shell currently holds tenure to 412,000 hectares of land for coalbed methane (CBM) development in the Skeena, Nass and Stikine watersheds.
This will potentially allow them to drill thousands of gas wells in the headwaters without as much as an environmental assessment.
A two-year moratorium announced by the provincial government late last year halted exploration activity so talks amongst Tahltan members may proceed. The area is within their traditional territory.
The waters bear five species of salmon along with a rich diversity of wildlife. The Skeena River salmon industry contributes an estimated $110 million to the regional economy per year. CBM fields, once established, result in very few jobs. In fact they may have negative impacts on local jobs such as guiding, angling and tourism.
CBM development has never taken place in salmon habitat before, nor has it been developed in alpine or subalpine climates. In fact Shell has never even developed CBM.
Little is known about the hydrology and environment of the tenure area or how CBM will impact salmon streams. However, reports by West Coast Environmental Law, and Pembina Institute, show CBM exploration and development may affect fish habitat and groundwater.
CBM extraction uses a dense network of wells, each with a footprint of approximately 150 hectares. Large amounts of land will need to be cleared to get drilling and industrial equipment in, and pipelines and roads will need to be constructed.
For every hectare of cleared area approximately 5,000 hectares of wildlife habitat are affected. Clearing of land causes less rain water to be absorbed and more to run off into streams, carrying with it sediments that are harmful to salmon habitat. Other effects on the environment include noise pollution and loss in air quality due to flaring,.
To extract CBM, groundwater must be released from coal seams. Removal of groundwater may deplete water reservoirs, known as aquifers, and alter the local water table and hydrology. Groundwater plays a critical role in stream quality. It helps to regulate temperature, keeping streams cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter and creating an ideal habitat for salmon species. Groundwater can also be a crucial factor in water recharge for streams, especially in the summer when snowpack melt has declined.
Once this water has been brought up, it must be transported for treatment, or re-injected below potential groundwater zones. The effects of re-injection may cause contamination of aquifers, streams and soils, from chemicals used in fracturing coal seams. Fracturing involves high pressure injection of water containing sand and chemicals into the well where it props open fractures, allowing gas to flow.
Current law treats CBM wells like conventional gas wells which have a less dense network and higher productivity rates. Licenses for wells are granted well by well and do not take in the cumulative effects of all the wells over the project lifespan.
There’s limited access to the area and Shell uses an abandoned rail line which it have been upgrading. Fortune Minerals holds the Special Use Permit for the rail line which is in poor condition and as a result affecting the salmon habitat of the Klappan River. A report prepared for the Klabona Keeper Society by Suskwa Research reports increased sedimentation into the Klappan River from poor rail line design, river encroachment and culvert installations. Neither Fortune Minerals, nor Shell has taken responsibility for maintenance of the rail line, even though this is a regulatory offence.
Area governments, First Nations groups, local business owners, MP Nathan Cullen, and MLA Robin Austin, agree that CBM development is too risky to proceed. Communities should have the final say. We must live with the consequences, not Shell.
Nicole Glover is from Terrace and is now going to school in Victoria.
