Post by
keithAB59 on Nov 26, 2007 4:57pm
Airdrie and Crossfield intervene against well
Councils for the Town of Crossfield and the City of Airdrie have both voted unanimously to intervene in the Berkley Crossfield sour gas drilling proposal. These interventions are primarily based on concerns over:
• Berkley’s lack of experience
• Risks to public health and safety
• Inappropriate data used in some of the emergency planning (esp. plume modelling, which estimates potential dispersion of poison gases with various wind conditions)
• Restrictions on the future growth of Airdrie and Crossfield due to the sour gas development.
For further details, please refer to:
https://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?k=51852&id=75818dca-7b63-47c9-b686-1d2458d52a27
https://www.airdrieecho.com/News/355937.html
The decisions to intervene were not taken lightly. In the case of Airdrie, the decision followed a detailed study of Berkley’s proposal undertaken by their EMS department. In Crossfield, the vote followed a long (at least 60 minute) presentation by Jim O’Byrne (Berkley) and Russ Brown (Berkley/Bissett).
Crossfield town residents have also formed a formal group (with their own legal representation) to oppose the well. Intervener costs to be paid by Berkley.
Some interveners are set to challenge the EUB (Alberta’s provincial regulator) as to whether companies like Berkley – that have never been the operator for a conventional drilling project - should even be allowed to apply for a Level 4 (during drilling) Critical Sour Gas well license(category employed for most dangerous wells). Further information will be available after the Dec. 5 pre-hearing meeting.
Hearing could be delayed until September 2008.