Trans Alta sues the Alberta government to prevent oil fracking near the dam

Calgary-based electricity producer TransAlta Corp. has sued the Alberta government and Alberta Energy to prevent oil and gas companies from fracking near the province’s largest hydroelectric dam because the technology can cause earthquakes.

The lawsuit, which was filed in September in Alberta’s King’s Bench Court, was filed as two oil and gas companies filed for fracking within five kilometers of the dam.

TransAlta is concerned about possible seismic activity causing damage to the Brazeau power plant, near Drayton Valley in central Alberta, as well as loss of wildlife, habitat and human life.

The company is referring to an agreement from the 1960s, when the Brazeau Hydroelectric Dam was built, which states that TransAlta must “enjoy the peace and possession of the building” without “interruption or inconvenience from the county, or anyone else.”

TransAlta also refers to part of the Brazeau Agreement, which states that the county government has agreed not to allow oil gathering activities that would restrict or interfere with the power plant.

In court documents, the company said the county “has not established, implemented, or enacted any clear policy directives that would protect the Prazo Storage and Energy Development from the “unacceptable” risks posed by hydraulic fracturing in close proximity.

The Brazeau Hydroelectric Dam was built in the 1960s and is currently owned by Calgary-based TransAlta. The power company has sued the Alberta government to prevent fracking near the dam, as two oil and gas companies have filed for fracking within five kilometers of the structure. (Kyle Bucks/CBC)

The case highlights the growing debate in the scientific community about the earthquake hazards caused by fracking.

Hydraulic fracturing is a common oil patch technique. When drilling an oil or natural gas well, a high-pressure mixture of water, sand, and chemicals is injected into an underground rock formation to create fissures and access hydrocarbons. The injection of these fluids is likely to cause earthquakes.

There have been thousands of documented cases of fracking activities causing earthquakes in North America, including in Alberta and British Columbia.

Restrictions near the Brazeau Dam

The power plant is located in Brazzo, about 200 kilometers southwest of Edmonton.

Hydraulic fracturing activity is currently not permitted within three kilometers of the power plant. However, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) allows fracking between three and five kilometers in certain cases based on several factors, such as review of risks, the possibility of seismic events and mitigation measures.

Calgary-based Ridgeback Resources is one of several oil and gas producers operating in the area near Alberta’s Rocky Mountain House and Brazeau Power Station. (Kyle Bucks/CBC)

Westbrick Energy Ltd. wants to and Ridgeback Resources Inc. Penetrate an area of ​​three to five kilometers. A 10-day hearing is scheduled for the first half of 2023.

A 2016 technical report by a government panel stated that there were “unacceptable risks associated with earthquake-induced faults in … the Brazo infrastructure within the five-kilometre buffer zone.”

However, a follow-up report in 2021 stated that “taking action to reduce risk is clearly necessary if the risk is unacceptable, and it appears that this is not the case.”

TransAlta wants the court to step in and ban fracking near the dam, among other safety measures.

“As we prioritize the safety of all of our facilities, TransAlta is taking this prudent step to affirm the government’s contractual obligations not to limit or interfere with the safe operation of the facility,” the company said in an email.

In its defense statement in September, the county government argues that the court should dismiss the case, in part to avoid interfering with the jurisdiction of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission as the regulator of all oil and gas operations in the province.

In its defense statement filed in response to TransAlta’s lawsuit, the county government argues that the court should dismiss the case, in part to avoid interfering with the jurisdiction of the Oil Sector Regulatory Authority as the regulator of all oil and gas operations in the province. (Kyle Bucks/CBC)

In court documents, government lawyers stated that “there is significant debate among interested stakeholders about the risks posed by hydraulic fracturing in the five kilometer area,” including some who say any fracking is “hazardous,” while others say fracking “does not represent any Something, or close to zero, is dangerous if made within specific shallow geologic formations.”

The government made no comment on CBC News. Westbrick Energy and Ridgeback Resources did not respond to interview requests.

Continuous scientific research

There is no doubt in the scientific community that hydraulic fracturing can cause earthquakes, but researchers are unable to accurately predict when a major earthquake will occur.

Statistics show that only a small amount of fracturing activity will actually cause a noticeable earthquake, so researchers are focusing on trying to figure out why, Hon Kao, chief earthquake research scientist at the Geological Survey of Canada, said.

Watch | Ongoing controversy over fracking hazards: The vast majority of fracking doesn’t cause an earthquake, but there are still thousands of cases, says Hon Kao, chief earthquake research scientist at the Canadian Geological Survey. It’s hard to predict when an earthquake will occur. There have been thousands of documented cases of hydraulic fracturing in North America.

Without knowing whether or not an earthquake will occur, experts will instead create a hazard model to come up with the probability.

“Then the debate begins. The probability is a lot like the weather, right? You say there’s a 50 percent chance of rain. What do you mean? For the operator and the community, if an earthquake happens, it’s 100 per cent. If no earthquake happens It is zero,” Kao said in an interview.

“But from a scientific point of view, we say, OK, there’s a 50 percent chance. That’s actually subject to interpretation, and I think a good deal of the discussion comes from there.”

Strongly induced earthquakes are felt at an oil well drilling site and then slowly decrease in strength as the distance goes.

Earthquakes are caused by a buildup of tectonic stress from fracturing activity, although scientists can’t measure how much tectonic energy has accumulated and how close the plates are to failure. Hydraulic fracturing also acts as an earthquake catalyst.

At some point, regulators have to decide on safety standards and determine their level of risk tolerance, but others in the community won’t agree. This difference of opinion is pivotal to TransAlta’s court actions on how close hydrofracking is to its dam.

In opposition to fracking near the Brazeau Dam, TransAlta says it has a strong interest in preserving its physical plant and the safety of its workers, as well as the potential downstream impacts on the environment from the earthquake. (Kyle Bucks/CBC)

“How much do you want to create that special zone? That’s actually a matter of debate,” Kao said. “How high or low can you tolerate risk?

“We know a lot about injection-induced earthquakes over the past decade. But certainly, in my opinion, I think we still have a lot to learn,” he said.

AER is the subject of a separate court proceeding

In a separate case, TransAlta is also taking a lawsuit against the AER to agree to the oil and gas company’s request to fracking between five and 10 kilometers from the dam “on the spot,” which “deprived TransAlta of the opportunity to file a statement of concern to the AER.”

The company is asking the courts to allow it to address its safety concerns about the regulator’s proposed hydraulic fracturing activity.

The rescue authority said it would not comment on an active legal issue, but did point out information about its fracking bases near the Brazo Dam. The regulator has 50 earthquake monitoring systems across the county.

Some of the largest fracturing earthquakes in western Canada include a 4.5-magnitude event near Fort St. John in northeastern British Columbia. In the Fox Creek region of Alberta, there have been a pair of earthquakes of magnitude 4.4 and magnitude of 4.8 occurred.

In the Brazo Dam area, an earthquake with a magnitude of more than 4.0 occurred in 2019. The epicenter was about 75 kilometers south of the power plant.

The number of earthquakes rose rapidly in Texas, Oklahoma and other parts of the United States with oil and gas production. As a result, the number of lawsuits against the industry has increased dramatically.

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