by Carl BR Johnson
May 26, 2013
Photo by Carl BR Johnson — Garry Loiselle, a land owner in the Bear Mountain area, stands in front of the land being considered for industry development.
A resident of a subdivision near the Bear Mountain Ski Hill said that he would like to see a buffer zone between his residence and planned oil and gas development nearby.
“The smell, noise and light pollution those rigs will create will be intolerable,” said Garry Loiselle, a landowner in the area.
He was surprised to learn that Encana has acquired the sub-surface rights to the land near many of his properties and that of his neighbours.
Loiselle is concerned that if oil companies like Encana are planning on dropping oilrig operations in the Bear Mountain area, they’ll be dangerously close to many residents’ houses.
In some cases, right across the road – the Bear Mountain area is home to hundreds of residents.
The thought of dealing with the huge increase of traffic that drilling for oil brings, as well as the many bright lights that oil rigs are accustomed to installing, leaves a bad taste in Loiselle’s mouth, he said.
Despite Loiselle’s objections to oil rig operations, he is not asking for a cease and desist order, but he wants them to keep their distance.
“We’re not asking the oil companies to stop drilling altogether, we’re simply asking for a larger buffer zone between us and their operations – like three to four kilometers.”
Loiselle pointed to the fact that a technology called directional drilling – also known as horizontal drilling – is a proven technology and one that he believes could save everyone a lot of grief.
“These guys (the oil companies) can horizontal drill from pretty far away, so why don’t they just increase the distance between us and them?” he said.
But increasing that distance between him and the oil companies’ operations may not be the best solution either, as directional drilling can be prohibitively expensive.
Loiselle’s greatest concern, he says, is that many residents around him are completely unaware that an oilrig may be installed closer to their properties than they might think.
“There are so many living here now that don’t even know what the oil companies are up to,” he said.
He said the PRRD was not doing enough to prevent this in their fringe area plan that is currently being considered.
“It should’ve been considered in the fringe plan,” he said. “(The buffer zone) ensures it doesn’t structurally change everything (landowners) have built.”
Karen Goodings, director of the Peace River Regional District, said that the PRRD has policy regarding such activities, but admitted that it has no teeth.
“We’ve lobbied the oil companies hard to keep at least a 1.5 kilometre distance between their operations and the residences’ houses,” said Goodings.
“However, that’s only a matter of policy, we have no authority over their drilling operations.”
On Thursday, Loiselle formally addressed the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) board members and brought the issue of his proposed buffer zone forward to their attention with his specific request being a moratorium on the land-use regarding oil companies’ activities in the area.
“All we’re asking for is a buffer zone,” said Loiselle, addressing the PRRD board.
“We’re not looking for conflict – that just causes stress for everyone.”
The attending audience inside the PRRD boardroom, which consisted of more than 30 concerned individuals, loudly cheered after his presentation was completed.
After heated discussion among board members, the board moved to commission a moratorium on the disposition of the land sites that may be adversely affected by oilfield development.
This would suspend oilfield development temporarily until the board could to fully ascertain the situation for landowners and oilfield companies.
The B.C. Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) carries much of the authority required to allow oil companies to begin drilling operations anywhere in B.C..
Inquires made to the OGC resulted in a statement regarding the activities in the Bear Mountain area: “As of right now the Commission does not have an application for a well within two kilometres of Bear Mountain. When a company does apply to drill a well in an area where landowners may be affected, an extensive consultation process occurs, facilitated by the Commission. The consultation results are then considered along with public safety and environmental issues before a decision is made.”
Incoming MLA Mike Bernier, who will be officially sworn into office a couple of weeks from now, said that he’s, “going to pursue the matter with Encana.”
“This issue is nothing new,” said Bernier, adding that he is aware of the situation regarding the Bear Mountain area and the proposed drilling operations.
“But I know some folks over at Encana and I will be looking into the regulations regarding land-use in this issue. Hopefully, we can move forward from that point after I have consulted with all the oil companies.”
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