Tomahawk residents ask to appeal sour oil wells approval

Lawyers for residents of a hamlet southwest of Edmonton were in court Tuesday asking a judge to let them appeal the regulatory approval of three sour oil wells that a Calgary energy company is drilling near their community.

In December, the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board [ERCB] gave Highpine Oil and Gas approval to drill three sour oil wells near the school in Tomahawk, which is about 100 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.

Lawyers for the residents argued their clients weren't able to find experts to respond to volumes of technical information Highpine Oil and Gas submitted to the ERCB a month before the hearings started last fall.

The lawyers also told the judge that documents that summarized public input into the project had sections that were blacked out, evidence, they said, that showed the board didn't see everything the public had to say about the proposal.

But Highpine argued some of the information had to be blacked out due to privacy concerns. Arguments about the technical documents were an attempt by residents to exploit a loophole, company lawyers told the court.

The judge is expected to take two to three weeks to rule on whether residents will get leave to appeal.

Outside court, Anita Berger said she was cautiously optimistic the judge will rule in the residents' favour.

"It's my understanding that it could be up to a year and a half before we actually hear the appeal," she said. "But whatever it takes — I mean, we're here for the long run."

Berger has two children that attend the school. She and other parents are concerned an accident at one of the wells could release toxic gas.

Highpine has said the project is safe and has drilled almost 100 other wells without an incident.

The ERCB agreed the wells could be drilled, completed and serviced safely when it issued its approval in December.

However, the board imposed some conditions. Highpine cannot work on two of the three wells during school hours. It can work on a third, more distant well when students are in school, but the company must ensure school bus drivers and buses are on standby in case of an emergency.