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Located between the Dempster Highway and NWT border in the Yukon’s northeast corner, the Peel Plateau is one area that has seen oil and gas activity come and go. Resource assessments estimate that the underlying basin could contain up to three trillion cubic feet of natural gas—a potential prize that led various companies to start drilling exploratory wells in 1965. But the combination of drilling results, economic conditions, and the lack of a pipeline brought an end to drilling in this area by the late 1970s.
“Oil and gas activity can bring many benefits to the Yukon economy and communities. At the same time, the Yukon government has a responsibility to ensure that the environment is protected,” says John Masterson, Director of Energy, Mines and Resources Oil and Gas Management Branch.
The wells drilled were abandoned in the 1970s. “Within the oil and gas industry, ‘abandoned’ refers to a drilled well that has been placed in a condition that can be left permanently unattended,” says Richard Corbet, a petroleum engineer and the branch’s Chief Operations Officer.
But abandoned does not mean forgotten. “Any company that is licensed to drill and abandon a well is responsible for it “until the end of time,” according to Corbet. Over the years, regulators have kept an eye on the abandoned wells in the Peel Plateau.
Since the settlement of their land claim in 1992, the Gwich’in have had ownership of land within the Peel watershed along with specific negotiated rights and management responsibilities. A few years ago residents of Fort McPherson, a Gwich’in community in the Northwest Territories, brought forward concerns about the Peel River water quality to the Yukon government. The abandoned wells were located in an area where its members have traditionally hunted, fished and trapped.
“There was a lot of concern (in Fort McPherson) about the abandoned well sites,” explains Mary Ann Ross, Vice President of the Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC). “The sites have been monitored, and we want to make sure we continue to monitor them.”
Corbet agrees.
“We definitely want to keep track of we’ve got and make sure that the old abandonment techniques stand up to the environmental standards of today,” he says. “So far we have not found a problem.”
In response to the concerns, the Yukon government and Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC) decided to cooperate on a comprehensive site re-inspection and sampling program to determine if any sites required more rigorous investigation.
In September 2004, Corbet flew into the area with an inspection team that included Chad Dyce, a Natural Resources Officer with the Energy, Mines and Resources Client Services and Inspections Branch, and Dwayne Semple, the Assistant Lands Manager for the GTC. |
The team located 12 sites and tried, unsuccessfully, to find two more sites that may have been overtaken by changing watercourses. They encountered some debris such as drilling material, but in general, they found “prolific” vegetation re-growth and many signs of wildlife activity at the sites.
At each site, the inspection team carefully took soil and water samples, usually from the low-lying sump pits that held drilling mud. They also took offsite “control” samples for comparison. These samples were sent to a lab in Edmonton where the soils were tested for polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), 18 different metals, six pesticides and four grades of petroleum hydrocarbons. The water samples were tested for 33 inorganic substances, including metals.
Next, the lab results were sent to Newpark Environmental Services, a Calgary company that specializes in environmentally sound methods of disposing of drilling waste. Newpark performed an independent evaluation, comparing more than 2,100 results to territorial or federal regulation levels—criteria that, in its view, are “very strict.”
As part of the inspection program, Dyce and Semple travelled by boat up the Peel River to search an area where people had encountered cement debris along the river bank. The pair were accompanied by Gwich’in citizens Johnny Charlie and William Charlie, who had previously seen the cement, as well as by Nacho Nyak Dun First Nation elder Jimmy Johnny.
“After looking at the entire stretch of the bank a few times, it was agreed that the cement debris was probably underwater,” recalls Semple.
Mary Ann Ross is pleased with the way the program was implemented, even if the results haven’t eliminated all concerns in the Gwich’in community.
“There’s been hands-on involvement at the community level as well as with the Tribal Council by the Yukon government,” she says. “The Tribal Council and the Yukon government are developing a more coordinated working relationship in land management in the Peel watershed area, which includes the Gwich’in private lands.”
“We didn’t find anything to suggest there is a problem,” Corbet says, “and we were able to reassure the community that the wells were in good shape.”
The Yukon government and the Gwich’in Tribal Council will continue to build on the partnership they have developed with this inspection program and they will continue to work cooperatively monitor the abandoned wells and address community concerns.
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Last Updated 30-01-2006
