School board to speak out against sour gas project at hearing

The Parkland School Division, west of Edmonton, is trying to stop a sour gas development near the hamlet of Tomahawk.

Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board started hearings this week on a proposal by Highpine Energy for four sour gas wells.

Board trustees are concerned the wells would be within 2.3 kilometres of the Tomahawk elementary school, putting it within the project's emergency planning zone, which means the school would have to be evacuated if anything went wrong.

"That puts issues forward about the safety and welfare of students and staff in the school," said Dorcas Kilduff, board chairman for the school division.

Board trustees plan to argue against the project during the three-week hearing, which started Tuesday. They passed a resolution Sept. 2 calling for the province to ban the practice of drilling oil wells within seven kilometres of any school.

Highpine calls project safe

But Dave Humphreys, who speaks for Highpine Energy, said the project is safe.

"We're very confident that we can drill and complete these wells in the same safe manner that we have demonstrated in the over 95 Nisku wells that Highpine and its predecessors have successfully drilled over the last seven years without incident," Humphreys said.

While Kilduff agrees that industry is going to great lengths to ensure safety, she still has concerns.

"In our view, there's always the chance that something can happen. And we just want to make sure that the health and safety of our students and staff is absolute,"  Kilduff said.

Tomahawk School has 140 students from kindergarten to Grade 9.

Sour gas is a type of natural gas containing hydrogen sulphide, which can be toxic and flammable.