The move to tap more unconventional sources for future natural gas production is raising concern across Alberta.

With known conventional supplies of natural gas on the decline and a growing demand for the commodity, Alberta and other jurisdictions across North America are turning their attention to extracting natural gas from coal, also known as coalbed methane (CBM).

But while the resource is plentiful - it's estimated that there is a potential resource of 700 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of CBM in Canada, with 500 Tcf in Alberta alone - apprehension is being voiced about the long-term impacts of CBM drilling on the environment.

CBM is the natural gas found in most coal seams and it's trapped underground. It consists primarily of methane - gas used for home heating, gas-fired electrical generation and industrial fuel. Although production of unconventional gas in Canada is recent, according to the Calgary-based Canadian Society for Unconventional Gas (CSUG), it is anticipated that by 2025 unconventional gas will account for about 80 per cent of all new drilling and 50 per cent of total gas production.

Jack Dagley, Business Edge

Gwen Lachelt, left, and Tweeti Blancett flank Oscar Steiner before a presentation in Edmonton.

Though the industry stresses it will act responsibly to develop CBM in Canada, others don't share the same view. "The problem we see here is there are a number of CBM presentations that have been done by industry and by government, and they're very unbalanced," says Oscar Steiner, an oil and gas researcher and a surface-rights consultant based in Strathcona County, east of Edmonton.

"It's very pro; it's all the good things about it. We wanted to see what the other half says - what is it like for the people living on the ground. Industry doesn't have to live next to these things, but we farmers and landowners do."

Steiner, along with award-winning Alberta author Andrew Nikiforuk and eight groups and organizations, organized the Alberta Coalbed Methane Tour, which recently held events in Edmonton, Calgary, Camrose, Pigeon Lake, Trochu and Nanton.

"The idea is to educate and bring independent information to landowners and farmers about the potential impacts of CBM exploration and production," says Steiner. "We want people to contact the minister of energy and the minister of the environment and let them know what (their) needs are, because we do not need a repeat of what has occurred in the southern U.S."

Steiner pointed to the devastation New Mexico rancher Tweeti Blancett and her family experienced after coalbed methane became a reality on their property, which has been in her family for generations.

Blancett, who along with fellow American Gwen Lachelt is part of the Alberta touring group, recited her own encounters with the CBM industry.

She and her family have had stewardship of 32,000 acres of land in the San Juan Basin in New Mexico since the 1800s, with the bulk of their property being public, federal lands on which they hold grazing rights. However, she says life has changed dramatically on the ranch since the 1980s.

"The surface impact (of CBM development) has caused fragmentation in every one of the seven pastures. They haven't replanted or reseeded and as a result we have tremendous invasion of noxious weeds," says Blancett.

"All of our livestock and wildlife waters are contaminated and the surface is so contaminated that when it rains the puddles become contaminated. There are tremendous erosion and water sedimentation problems. We sold our cattle in November 2003 because the contamination was so great."

Once numbering hundreds of cattle, their herd is now down to 20 and kept at the ranch headquarters, which is the only part of the land they own. "The adjacent lands are federal lands and are totally contaminated," she adds. "And by adjacent federal lands, I mean within 200 feet of our property line."

Energy Minister Greg Melchin

"My husband and I feel very, very strongly that oil and gas has the right to render their leases, but they do not have the right to destroy our surface grazing rights and that's what's happening."

She adds that since she is an American, "I'm not here to tell Canadians how to do, what to do or when to do it. The only reason I'm here is to tell my story of what's happened to me on our ranch in New Mexico."

Lachelt, director of the Oil and Gas Accountability Project (OGAP) based in Durango, Colo., is concerned that the high-density drilling needed in the CBM process not only alters the landscape but also threatens another precious commodity: Water.

"In terms of the injection of toxic fluids, hydraulic fracing and the production of wastewater, CBM will eventually have the same impact on water as hard-rock mining. The effects on ground and surface water are really a long-term issue," says Lachelt.

"I've certainly been in touch with a lot of Albertans and did a speaking tour here three years ago and what is disappointing is that it's basically the same story but a different country. People need to stand up, get organized and ban worst practices."

Alberta Energy officials say they are familiar with the U.S. situation.

"We're very aware of the American experience with CBM and the water issues there, and the Alberta situation is very different than that," says Alberta Energy communications director Cathy Housdorff. "The American experience was primarily due to a lot of water issues and the geology here is quite different.

"Of the 6,000 wells in Alberta, 91 per cent are in the Horseshoe Canyon and Belly River coal zone in south-central Alberta and it is dry."

But even though the situation is different, "we're not ignoring the water issue by any means," Housdorff adds, referring to a new announcement by Alberta Environment to develop standard procedures and reporting requirements for baseline testing of wellwater to establish water quality prior to CBM methane drilling.

Provincial Environment Minister Guy Boutilier and Energy Minister Greg Melchin have discussed the water issue, she adds, and the provincial government has taken steps to ensure the right working environment is in place.

A multi-stakeholder advisory committee was formed in 2003 to ensure regulations were appropriate, "and environmental protection is a big part of it."

The committee includes representatives from landowner and environmental groups, including the Alberta Surface Rights Federation, Butte Action Committee and the Pembina Institute, as well as CSUG.

The committee has just finalized the report, which makes more than 40 recommendations, and is expected to present its findings within the next few weeks.

"(Melchin) is awaiting the report and looking forward to reviewing the recommendations and acting on them in an appropriate time frame," says Housdorff.

Alberta Energy says natural gas regulations also apply to natural gas in coal, and ensuring the development happens in a safe, responsible and sustainable manner is a priority.

Michael Gatens, chairman of Calgary-based MGV Energy Inc., an exploration and production company focusing on unconventional gas, was one of the members of the multi-stakeholder advisory committee.

The past CSUG chairman says the concern and fear surrounding CBM is based on a lack of information and awareness with regard to the state of the oil and gas industry in Alberta.

"We have very strong regulations in place in regard to these issues that have been raised like water, air and surface impacts," says Gatens.

"In fact, there are many types of oil and gas developments in the province that have much more intense well densities today than there are for these CBM developments."

Some of the committee's recommendations had already been acted upon even before the report was finished, he adds, such as dealing with flaring and venting.

Alberta Environment also recently announced a commitment to map the province's groundwater aquifers, as recommended by the committee's initial report.

"Many of the issues that get raised and brought here are not applicable because of our geology and geography, which are different, or are not applicable because of our regulatory process," adds Gatens.

CSUG also offers landowners and other stakeholders affected or potentially affected by CBM the opportunity to voice their concerns at its annual conference.

But Steiner says it can't be too soon until special rules for CBM are in place.

"There's no cumulative impacts studies being done on CBM and that's really the problem here," he says.

"The problem is it's unconventional gas regulated by conventional gas rules and those guidelines don't take into consideration the impacts on groundwater that CBM has," or related surface impacts.

"CBM is being drilled, explored and approved more and more every year, so instead of the committee making policy, you have interested parties such as industry making policy through precedent."

The Alberta Coalbed Methane Tour was sponsored by several groups, including The Alberta Surface Rights Federation, Warburg-Pembina Surface Rights Group, Pine Lake Surface Rights Action Group, Butte Action Committee, Livingstone Landowners Group, The Pekisko Group, The Parkland Institute and The Land Advocate newsletter.

Web Watch: www.energy.gov.ab.ca

(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)