Another delay for fracking
Retention pool releases water at Sahtu drill site
Daron Letts
Northern News Services
Updated Monday, February 10, 2014
SAHTU
The NWT's first horizontal hydraulic fracturing program is in the midst of its second delay, following an incident at ConocoPhillips' Canol shale play in the Sahtu on Feb. 5.
A spill from fresh water retention pool released approximately 2,700 cubic metres of water, according to company spokesperson Lauren Stewart.
The horizontal hydraulic fracturing program, commonly known as "fracking," has been delayed while the incident is under investigation, Stewart stated in an e-mail to News/North. There were no injuries and "no environmental damage is expected," she added.
"Safety is our priority and we are taking precautions to ensure that site is safe to proceed. There is a need to move our heavy equipment out of the area where the fresh water release occurred. We will need to repair the ice pad to resume operations," she stated.
The company filed an incident report with the National Energy Board later that day, though it was not mandatory to do so because the fluid involved was freshwater, according to Tara O'Donovan, communications officer with the board.
"It is considered a non-reportable incident," said O'Donovan.
The fresh water was being stored on the north side of the lease in a large capacity containment pond that uses a plastic liner to contain the water inside a metal ring, akin to an above ground pool, in preparation for use in fracking operations, which have not begun, according to Stewart.
"This will delay our fracturing operations," she stated, adding the water did not affect the well. "We do not expect a delay of more than a week."
The corporation's water licence dictates that fracking operations for the season be completed by March.
Originally scheduled to frack two wells in late December, ConocoPhillips first halted its drilling program in mid-December to conduct a safety check after a worker was struck when a winch line failed on Dec. 13. The accident occurred while rig equipment was being moved, according to Stewart. The worker has since returned home to Alberta and the matter is under investigation.
At the time, fracking operations were rescheduled for late January.
Fracking involves sand, water, and chemicals pumped at high pressure into cracks in a geological formation, creating fractures in the surrounding rock. When pressure is released, gas and oil is forced into the well bore.
Erin Reilly, waste co-ordinator with ConocoPhillips, filed two other reports early this month related to separate spills.
Late in the afternoon on Jan. 31, 150 litres of partially treated wastewater was released when a hose seal came loose on a sewage vacuum truck. The truck was pumping effluent back into the wastewater treatment plant during a repair at the company's 50-person camp. The truck and shovels recovered the "volume" of the spill and the driver has been instructed to use additional fittings to hold the hose connection tight when performing such operations, according to the report, which was filed with Environment and Natural Resources (ENR).
On the evening of Feb. 3, 240 litres of wastewater spilled at the wastewater lift station in the company's 200-person camp when a sewer line between two dorms was blocked by what is presumed to be a cleaning rag, according to the report filed with ENR the following day. The sewage vacuum was used to collected "90 per cent" of the wastewater.
To prevent similar incidents, "high level alarms will be added to the large lift stations and a second emergency sewer line will be added."
