Company frustrated with land and water board
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Liard (Jan 12/01) - Paramount Resources Ltd. plans to pull out of a natural gas project in Fort Liard worth an estimated $65 million.
After having several of its land-use applications referred to environmental assessment, which involves months of delay, Paramount says it is withdrawing some of its applications in the Fort Liard and Cameron Hills areas, said Shirley Maaskant, regulatory and community affairs co-ordinator with Paramount.
The company can no longer perform necessary drilling and pipeline work during the winter season due to the interruptions caused by the environmental assessments, she added.
"Until they (the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board) come up to speed in terms of knowledge of the oil and gas industry, I think it's probably better left in the hands of the National Energy Board (NEB) at this point in time," said Hugh Klaasen, Paramount's corporate compliance officer.
Maaskant added, "They (MVLWB) should have a very clearly defined mandate as to what the role of their board is."
Melody McLeod, interim chair of the MVLWB, said she could not speak specifically to Paramount's applications, but said it's outside of the NEB's mandate to review NWT applications.
"I feel we (the MVLWB) have a fairly good take on the oil and gas industry ... we have board members who are very knowledgable and capable," she said of the board, which was officially established March 30, 2000.
"Although we bring with us a lot of experience, we're still on a real sharp learning curve right now."
In several instances, the MVLWB said it had concerns about potential hydrogen sulphide (H2S) rates during proposed flaring by Paramount.
Flaring, Maaskant said, is already strictly regulated by the NEB, which oversees flow test procedures.
McLeod said flaring must be scrutinized by the MVLWB.
"We have a legislative requirement to ensure the safety of environment, and I guess it's a fine line when you look at flaring and the effects it has on the surrounding environment," she said. "We want to ensure that all alternative methods of flaring are looked at as opposed to just simply flaring. It's becoming quite an issue in other parts of the country."
With so many applications referred to environmental assessment, Maaskant said she doesn't believe Paramount's submissions to the MVLWB are vague or that the company's practices are questionable.
"We personally believe that our applications are of excellent quality and contain more than adequate information..." she said.
She added the approval process is too lengthy -- a minimum of two months in the NWT, in Paramount's experience, as opposed to just three weeks in Alberta.
McLeod said NWT legislation allows for 42 days turn-around on new applications. Thorough consultation with communities, although time-consuming, is a priority for the MVLWB, she added.
