GNWT develops oil and gas regulations
Public opinion on new guidelines around hydraulic fracturing accepted until June
Elaine Anselmi
Northern News Services
Monday, April 6, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Water monitoring and disclosure of fracking chemicals are priorities in developing new hydraulic fracturing filing regulations, according to two NWT ministers.
The territorial government announced at a press conference April 1 that public has 90 days to comment on the new regulations that incorporate legislation passed down from the federal government through devolution and will function alongside National Energy Board requirements.
"We have worked in a number of areas to identify and lay out what our priorities are as a government and as residents," said David Ramsay, minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment, who is also the territory's Oil and Gas Regulator.
The regulations are set to come into effect in August, though there are currently no hydraulic fracturing operations in the territory, nor are any expected in the coming years.
"It's almost a blessing in disguise, because of the slow down in oil and gas development, we can now look at some of the issues that are out there and how we can mitigate those," said Norman Yakeleya, MLA for the Sahtu region, where ConocoPhillips drilled two wells for fracking exploration project in 2013.
"We can do things in a way that will have less impact on the environment and have all of the safety regulations in place to have fracking."
Northern priorities
According to the territorial government, air quality monitoring and increased reporting during all phases of the fracking process, along with establishing baseline information on surface and groundwater have all been considered in developing regulations.
Environment Minister Michael Miltenberger said millions of dollars have been and will continue to be invested into water monitoring across the territory.
"It's going to allow us from the 60th parallel right to the Arctic Ocean to do our part and be part of that network, to track what is happening with water so that we can ensure people that it's going to remain substantially unaltered and in prime condition for future generations," he said.
Many have criticized the fracking process for its heavy use of water, and the territorial government has not yet set limits on how much water can be used in a single project.
"The issue of pace and intensity is not one that we're dealing with, considering we don't have any activity at all at this point," said Miltenberger.
"I don't believe there's a cap at this juncture, we have to see what is going to be proposed and where they want to get water from."
Full disclosure
When fracking in the Sahtu, ConocoPhillips publicly released chemical additives in its fracking fluid. The government does seek this sort of disclosure under the new regulations, although the request only goes so far.
"Under the PRA, Petroleum Resources Act, certain types of information provided to the oil and gas regulator cannot be released to the public without the consent of the applicant," Ramsay said.
"Asking for consent at the application stage makes the process easier because the applicants response will be on the file throughout the entire review."
If a company refuses to disclose the information publicly, Miltenberger said this would be reflected on its application - adding that some jurisdictions have made disclosure mandatory and the GNWT will stay abreast of best practices in the industry.
Open for business
With an eye on attracting oil and gas development to the territory, Miltenberger said the new regulations are in line with other jurisdictions.
"What we're trying to do is protect the environment at the same time as recognizing there are some economic opportunities here and we need to, in our resource-based economy, look at and take advantage of those," he explained.
As seen with mining, the government says securities will be in place on oil and gas projects and this will be co-ordinated through the Department of Lands.
Finding a way to mitigate unpaid security deposits
Security deposits from mining companies have come under fire recently with some found to be unpaid under the federal system. Robert C. McLeod, minister of Lands, said establishing a financial sureties and liabilities division is a way of preventing such a problem.
"That was something that we kind of inherited from the federal system and we're taking steps to ensure that that doesn't happen under our watch," he said.
Miltenberger said the new regulations are designed to prevent the challenges that remain from past resource development projects.
"We want to avoid any repetition of things like Giant Mine, Colomac, Port Radium and all the other sites out there that are going to have to be remediated on the public dollar because the systems in place weren't adequate," he said.
"We want to make sure we avoid that - speaking both as environment minister and certainly as finance minister - it's going to be imperative that we do that right and I believe we've set ourselves up to do that."
