Pengrowth Energy Corporation is planning to build a new pipeline southwest of Olds and the company is giving people living in the area a chance to voice any concerns or questions over the proposal.
The proposed pipeline would run northwest to southeast between range roads 21 and 20 to the Olds Gas Plant located near the intersection of Rge. Rd. 20 and Twp. Rd. 322.
The 6.4-kilometre project would twin the southern portion of an existing pipeline currently bringing sour gas from the north to the Olds plant.
Larry Stewart, the company's general manager, Western Canada unconventional business unit, said the new twinned segment of the pipeline will be licensed for the same content of sour gas flowing through the existing pipeline at 13.74 per cent and the existing portion will be converted to transport sweet gas.
Although the new portion is licensed for 13.74 per cent sour content, he added, the actual content flowing through the pipe will be closer to 3.5 per cent.
"But because of regulations we license for higher (content) and design for higher and again, safety mitigation would be the rationale for that.î
The reason for the twinning, Stewart said, is to handle an increase in the amount of sweet gas coming to the Olds plant.
"We're bringing in more sweet gas to Olds and the existing line is a little bit bigger so we'd be bringing it in that way and the pipe that we're going to put in the ground is a little bit smaller.î
Sour gas is natural gas containing more than one per cent hydrogen sulphide while sweet gas contains little or no hydrogen sulphide.
So far, the company has received survey permission for the project from landowners along the proposed route and the company is now in the process of consulting with landowners and other people living in the area where the pipeline would be built, Stewart said.
Residents received letters earlier this month outlining where the pipeline will go, he added, and they have two weeks to respond with concerns or questions.
"We'd be prepared to meet with them one on one to discuss those,î Stewart said.
The next step in the process following the completion of all land-related matters is for the Alberta Energy Regulator to review the licence for the proposed pipeline, he said.
The company hopes to begin work on the new pipeline this summer and Stewart said construction should be completed within three weeks or less, depending on weather.
According to documents provided to residents in the area where the proposed pipeline would be built, no emissions or odours are expected from the new pipeline during normal operations and there will be no flaring activities associated with the pipeline.
As for safety precautions, Stewart said the sour gas will go into the new line because it is a brand new pipe and there are emergency shutdown valves installed along the route of the pipeline as part of the company's emergency response plan for the area.
"We're actively testing that (plan) as far as having (yearly) drills so we have a ready to go plan,î he said.
Wassem Khalil, the company's manager of investor relations, said the company has emergency response plans in all areas where it operates that are tested throughout the year and the company works with Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development, provincial regulators and local authorities in an effort to be a "good neighbourî to those people living near its pipelines and plants.
"We do have a very sound safety record,î he said. "We have been in operation for almost 26 years now and we have had a fairly good safety record within the operations. We do take pride in making sure that wherever we do operate that we do operate in a safe manner.î
Last year, Alberta's Energy Resources Conservation Board issued a low-risk enforcement action against Pengrowth, along with a high-risk enforcement action against Pembina Pipeline Corporation, for pipeline spills that happened in mid-2011 in northern Alberta.
"Pengrowth Energy has been issued a low-risk enforcement action for operating the pipeline for more than a year under faulty construction practices before a pipeline failure on June 26, 2011, near Swan Hills,î a media release from the provincial government states.
Later that year, Pengrowth experienced a leak at one of its wellsite pipelines at its Judy Creek field near Swan Hills where, according to a company media release, 1,900 cubic metres of water containing "minor amounts of oilî was released.
