CRANE LAKE – The Crane Lake Advisory & Stewardship Society (CLASS) and the local landowners are raising concerns over Gear Energy’s oil drilling project under Crane Lake and says it will be proposing a public meeting.
Residents are also hoping to meet with Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul MLA Scott Cyr regarding horizontal drilling under Crane Lake.
“Taxpaying Residents, farmers and acreage owners are very concerned about the proposed drilling under Crane Lake. Gear Energy failed to communicate with all the landowners within the effected area [1.5 kms] as is required by AER directive #56. There has been little communication, only a very small number of people have been notified of it,” according to information received from CLASS.
Jason Kaluski, vice president of operations for Gear Energy, says they are aware of the concerns and are willing to work to address them.
“The company is aware of the concerns raised by some property owners on Crane Lake regarding our current drilling activity in the area,” said Kaluski. “The company is responding to the statements of concern and intends to work together with the property owners and the AER (Alberta Energy Regulator) to address them.”
A spokesperson with CLASS, who requested anonymity, explained the many lakes in the area are connected via basin sharing and fed by the same aquifers. There is also a large amount of ground water along a fault line that runs east between Tucker Lake and Crane Lake with strong hydrological pressure, which the group believes means that the natural water balance could be compromised, and that drawdown could occur within the lake basin.
They believe there is evidence if this occurring within the Beaver River Watershed Basin at other lakes.
“If they punch through any aquifer connections – which are largely unknown, we’re toast. There have been many casing failures and flooding in the Beaver River Basin, I know that for a fact,” said the representative. “These casing failures happen regularly, and in fact the whole northwestern corner of Ethel Lake has been totally contaminated. They bought out landowners there years ago.”
MD of Bonnyville Coun. Dana Swigart has been following the issue, and explained the MD has no jurisdiction over where oil companies drill.
“I wish these oil companies had to meet with the MD. We only find out when they apply to use our roads,” said Swigart.
Swigart feels that Crane Lake is one of the most pristine lakes in the MD and says anyone who is concerned about the oil drilling can write a letter of concern to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER).
Regarding sending letters of concern to the AER, the CLASS representative explained that the letters must explain the direct or inverse impact the oil drilling will have on the person submitting the letter of concern.
Kaluski says the company is following all necessary requirements.
“The company is committed to responsible oil and gas development and has diligently satisfied all the requirements under the Alberta Energy Regulator, which outlines energy development rules for oil and gas activity in Alberta. These requirements include environmental and water act assessments, as well as preconstruction wildlife sweeps,” said Kaluski.
The CLASS representative spoke about the rare plants and a unique geological formation on Crane Lake that falls into a Protected Natural Status area, which is provincially recognized.
“For individual oil well drilling and extraction, there is no requirement for Pre-Disturbance Assessments, Environmentally Sensitive Areas assessments, nor an Environmental Impact Assessment, which gathers all the impacts of oil developments such as this. Road dust, increased noise levels, fish and wildlife disturbances, extra vehicle traffic, are just some of the disturbances associated with oil development,” said the CLASS representative.
Class has recently heard that other new oil developments are also proposed to go ahead in the south side of Crane Lake by three or four other companies between 2026 and 2029. All are within 1.5 kms of the lake and area residents, and some wells are also horizontal drilling under Crane Lake. The cumulative impacts from multiple oil developments all within a close geographical area – in very close proximity to Crane Lake will be extreme, believes the CLASS representative.
A similar project was proposed in the early 2000’s by a different company, and the community objected to it at that time as well, according to the CLASS representative. They ultimately decided not to drill under the lake.
