Over 100 residents of the often quiet community at Crane Lake made their voices heard at an oilsands extraction project open house and information session this past Thursday at Riverhurst Hall.
Many of those voices were in opposition to a proposed new extraction project that could come within 300 metres of Crane Lake by upstart company Birchwood Resources Incorporated, based out of Calgary.
Much of the concern regarded the proximity of the proposed project to residences and the lake and the potential environmental and health impacts that could arise from oilsands development in that location.
Birchwood is a two-year-old company headed by president Alex Lemmens. This would be the first project for the company but Lemmens said many of Birchwoods employees have a lot of experience and years in the oil industry, including previous work in the Cold Lake area.
The company has already drilled three test wells in the Crane Lake area.
Lemmens commented on the proposed new project and the opposition he faced at the open house.
“We're going to build the best facility we can build. We have the best engineering team…We know there have been lots of mistakes made by lots of companies in the past, but we hope to learn from those and get feedback from the community.”
He added, “They're not going to be happy, we know that, but we hope we can work with them. It's going to take time.”
Although many residents voiced concerns over the impact of the project itself, issues also arose regarding a perceived lack of communication between the company and residents and landowners within the Crane Lake community.
“I just found out (about the open house) through my neighbour,” said 12-year resident of Crane Lake, Trevor Williams. “I didn't get a phone call or anything in the mail.”
Though some residents did receive notice of the open house, many were also miffed at the fact that three test wells were already drilled despite what they saw as lacking consultation.
Lemmens clarified the company's approach. “This is the very first open consultation with the community. We consulted with a smaller group when we drilled our three vertical wells to find out what was here and we did a very preliminary study before we drilled those vertical wells.”
He added, “This is the first (open house) for the whole community, but we have many more to come. We want to make sure everyone is fully aware of what we are doing.”
Williams, who works in the oil industry, was a little put off by the lack of consultations prior to drilling the test wells.
“I actually flew over the cleared leases where the test wells were drilled this winter and thought ‘What the hell are those doing there?' Nobody heard a thing about them,” he said.
Williams clarified his position, noting he was not someone who is often opposed to development; however, he said the proximity to the lake and residences and lack of communication is disconcerting.
“I'm well aware of the amount of noise produced by these plants. I don't particularly want to try to sleep with a steam generator howling and that smell from the plant all night and I imagine everybody within the vicinity would say the same thing.”
Alyssa Noel, whose family has resided at Crane Lake for 15 years, said the company appeared arrogant towards the residents of Crane Lake by drilling test wells and proposing a project within 300 metres of the lake.
“This is my favourite place in the world. We've been coming here for 15 years. It's so beautiful and I don't know why they want to come in and throw that all away,” Noel said. “We just found out they've already drilled wells and coming into the area like that with no consultation just seems arrogant.
“We're allowing our nice clean lakes to be destroyed. Some things are worth more than money.”
She believes it will be very difficult for the company to win favour with the residents of Crane Lake.
Lemmens said though the project is just in the preliminary stages and they are well aware of some of the concerns and willing to listen to others.
“We can allay most of the concerns by how we build the plant, by how we build the wells, by using the very best techniques,” he explained. “All through the next weeks we will be working with our engineering people to calculate noise and air emissions.”
He said the project, which will cost an estimated $230 million and create work for about 60 people over approximately 30 years, has not even passed the approval process yet.
“There are still applications to go into the ERCB (Energy Resources Conservation Board) and (Alberta Environment). We're probably a year and a half to two years away from getting anything going.”
Because the company is relatively new and family-owned, some residents questioned whether there were the resources and capital to deal with a disaster. Others worried about the health of the lake.
Several residents also questioned why there were no provincial government representatives present at the open house.
Roger Rainbault, owner and operator of the Bodina Resort campground at Crane Lake, said, “Initially this would probably be good for business because of the workers that might stay here, but in the long run, if the lake's gone, we're gone.”
He added, “Why do we have to do it in a residential area anyway? Why are we playing around our property and our water?”
“We're not drilling under the lake,” Lemmens said. “We're going to continue talking with everyone and deal with the issues as they arise.”
Although Lemmens said the open house was not a requirement of the company due to regulations allowing for relatively smaller projects to perform less consultation, he said the company would strive to keep an open dialogue with all stakeholders.
Towards the end of the open house, residents of Crane Lake passed around an email list and the Crane Lake Advisory and Stewardship Society began organizing a community and stakeholder meeting.
Jose Lapointe said the meeting is open to the public and would be scheduled within the next two weeks.
