The president of Black Spruce Exploration was in Stephenville Crossing on Saturday to tell two-dozen municipal leaders about his company’s search for oil and the potential for hydraulic fracturing on the province’s west coast.
While attending a meeting of Southwest Coast Joint Council, David Murray explained Black Spruce Exploration entered into an agreement with Shoal Point Energy in January to pursue oil exploration and production, with the first well planned for Shoal Point on the Port au Port Peninsula.
He said exploration drilling would comprise the first year of the project. If those results are positive, the second year would see further drilling, along with appraisals and development; and the third year onwards would see development and production.
Mr. Murray noted employment opportunities would increase with ease phase of the project, with potential for 50 jobs in the first year and going to 500 or more in the third year of operations.
“If we do find the oil, we’ll need to know how to refine this properly here,” he said. “We want to keep as many jobs as we can local and build and develop the industry just like it’s been in Alberta. We don’t want to be shipping the oil to Alberta. We want to be keeping it here, creating jobs.”
Mr. Murray said his company is environmentally responsible, being compliant with regulations set out by the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, Department of Natural Resources, and Department of Environment and Conservation.
“We have to submit applications, we have to go through the process – I wish I could tell you that’s quick,” he said. “It’s likely that this first well, which we hoped to get started in June, we probably won’t be doing that until September or October. It just takes that long to be regulatory compliant.”
Once the exploratory well is drilled, core samples will be taken to analyze the rocks in the area. And if oil doesn’t naturally come out of the ground, they may stimulate the flow by using hydraulic fracturing, which is commonly known as fracking.
Mr. Murray said a hydrology study would be conducted prior to any fracking to ensure there is no connection between fracking zones and groundwater aquifers.
“In Canada, we’ve had 200,000 hydraulically fractured wells, and we’ve not had any cases of drinking water contamination from the stimulation fluid,” he said.
Even so, he said the company will case the double-case the oil well with steel and cement to a level 150 metres below the lowest drinking-water well registered with the provincial government.
“We are not required to that by industry or by regulations. We do that as a company so that there’s never ever an issue with drinking water.”
Joyce Judge, representing Fox Island River Local Service District, expressed her concerns about the depth of the oil well’s double-casing, as not all household water wells in her area are registered with the government.
“I know of circumstances where (residents) don’t register, so that’s why we prefer to use the deepest depth of all the known registered wells,” said Mr. Murray.
Fracking fluids
Mr. Murray said fluids involved in fracking are comprised of 99.51 per cent water, sand and salt. The other 0.49 per cent is comprised of 15 chemical compounds, many of which Mr. Murray said could be found in domestic cleansers, cosmetics and foods. (See chart below for more details.)
“When people say we’re not trying to tell them what’s in there, that’s hogwash,” he said.
Mr. Murray noted not all of the hydraulic fracturing fluid comes up once oil is flowing.
“Fifty per cent stays in the rocks 1,500 to 3,000 metres below, so the stuff that comes up, you will have a separator process that will clean that and that will be put in separating pond,” he said.
The waste will then be put in tanks and trucked to a port and sent by boat to a disposal company in Nova Scotia.
That didn’t sit well with Jim Cashin, deputy mayor of Port au Port East, and some of the meeting’s other attendees.
“You can talk about (well) casing all you want, but if that truck goes off the road, it’s going in ground water and I have no water to drink, so it does make a hell of a big difference,” he said. “If that truck goes off the road and my little boy happens to be out by the school, that makes hell of a big difference to me.”
Stephenville Crossing Councillor Cynthia Downey and Cape St. George Mayor Peter Fenwick both expressed concerns about local fire departments not having adequate training to handle roadside accidents.
Mr. Murray said his company is willing to bring in experts in the field to help train local firefighters.
There was mixed reaction from meeting attendees at the end of Mr. Murray’s presentation.
Stephenville Crossing Mayor Leona Webb said she hoped the environmental and safety concerns could be worked out and that Black Spruce Exploration would be successful in their quest for oil.
However, Mr. Cashin remained skeptical about the company’s plans.
“If they’re right, good. But if they’re wrong, they walk away and it’s catastrophic for us,” he said. “Only time will tell, it’s a gamble and my perspective is, how do you gamble with the environment?”
***
Typical solution used in hydraulic fracking and common uses of the compounds:
95.5 per cent water and sand
.01 per cent sodium chloride (table salt)
.049 per cent additives including:
.06 per cent potassium chloride (low-sodium table salt substitute)
.085 per cent isopropanol (glass cleaner, antiperspirant and hair colour)
.088 per cent petroleum distillate (make-up remover, laxatives and candy)
.056 per cent guar gum/hydroxyethyl cellulose (thickener used in cosmetics, baked goods, ice cream, toothpaste, sauces and salad dressing)
.043 per cent ethylene glycol (automotive antifreeze, household cleaners, deicing and caulk)
.011 per cent sodium/potassium carbonate (washing soda, detergents, soap, water softener, glass and ceramics)
.007 per cent borate salts (laundry detergents, hand soaps and cosmetics)
.004 per cent citric acid (food additive, food and beverages, lemon juice)
.002 per cent N, n-Dimethyl formamide (used in pharmaceuticals, acrylic fibers and plastics)
.001 per cent glutaraldehyde (disinfectant, sterilizer for medical and dental equipment)
.123 per cent acid (swimming pool cleaner)
Source: DOE, GWPC: Modern Gas Shale Development in the United States: A Primer (2009)
As a member of the Save the bay of fundy group, we formed especially for this reason. Bad enough that they are dumping this guck into our beautiful bay, then they want to bring in waste from NB and now Newfoundland. If your province wants fracking, then keep your fracking waste also. lol