Rocky View County council unanimously endorsed a resolution asking the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMD&C) to work with the Province to expand minimum public notification areas for oil and gas development, Oct. 11.
The proposed resolution will be considered at the local AAMD&C zone meeting. If endorsed there, it will be debated at the Association’s annual provincial convention in November before being presented to the Province.
“It is important to us that we continue to make sure that our residents are well informed,” said Reeve Rolly Ashdown. “The most important thing is that everyone in Rocky View has the opportunity to voice their concerns.”
The resolution does not lay out specific increases to minimum distance requirements for public notification, but focuses on the need to expand the areas in a more collaborative manner, recognizing the unique needs of affected communities.
Oil and gas drilling and pipeline activity has long occurred within Rocky View, mostly in the eastern and northwestern portions. However, Springbank has been identified as a possible resource area and seven applications have come forward for gas wells in the area.
The recent push has alarmed some residents. Apprehensive about a number of things, including increased traffic, decreased safety and erosion of land values, a number of residents have brought their concerns to councillors.
Kim Magnuson, councillor for the Springbank area, said she has been inundated with calls and e-mails from residents pleading for help.
She said a concern raised by many was the lack of notification for affected residents living outside the 200-metre notification area imposed by the Energy Resources Conservation Board, the provincial regulator.
Not content to sit back, Magnuson, with council’s support, penned a letter in July to the Bernum Petroleum Ltd., the oil company investigating the area, seeking a compromise.
“We got a response back mid-September saying they were going to expand their notification zone,” said Magnuson, adding the company accomplished that by hosting a well-attended open house on Oct. 11 at the Wild Wild West Event Centre in Springbank.
But Magnuson wants to see changes to the way people are informed province-wide.
“I would like to see them have a greater consultation with the people who live out there and the developers,” she said.
“Two hundred metres is not enough. An entire subdivision could be one foot outside (the notification zone) and not be told. I think that is just wrong.”
Ashdown agreed the notification area should be expanded.
“We don’t have the ability to change what (the oil companies) have in mind, “ he said. “At least we can try to get the people informed better than they have been.”
Ashdown said the County has no jurisdiction over where oil development occurs, but a successful AAMD&C vote would give Rocky View a stronger voice.
“The goal isn’t to put on pressure, but rather to let them know that many of the people in the province are of the same opinion,” he said. “We are trying to get things done that are the will of the majority of Albertans.”
