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Drill logs show Shell struck water
Jul 23, 2008
By Quinn Bender
Royal Dutch Shell's claim that no water is being produced by coalbed
methane test wells is being refuted by the company's own drill logs.
The oil giant has repeatedly claimed that three test wells drilled in
2004 exploring for coalbed methane did not produce any water, but
drill logs obtained by The Interior News show that, in fact, the
testing at one well site has on four instances caused artesian flow at
depths from 179 to 311 metres.
Opponents to proposed coalbed methane exploration and extraction in
the Klappan Valley, known colloquially as the Sacred Headwaters, said
the drill logs conclusively prove Royal Dutch Shell is not forthcoming
with their findings
"[The drill log] defeats Shell's mantra that they haven't found any
water up there," said Shannon McPhail, executive director of the
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition (SWCC).
As a result of the artesian activity, Shell suspended drilling at the
site and has since capped the well and reclaimed the surrounding area,
according to a company spokesperson. Shell also stressed the water was
not produced from a coal seam, but found at random depths in fresh
ground-water tables.
"What's in this document is actually not produced water [from the coal
seam], it's water that you would experience as you drill through
different layers of rock," said Shell spokesperson Larry Lalonde.
"What we're drilling for, where we would get the gas from the coal, is
much deeper than the water that was experienced."
Whether or not the water was the dreaded flow from the coal seam,
toxic to above- ground ecosystems, the SWCC is concerned the potential
for such water threatens to mix with groundwater, and enter the
environment through natural aquifers.
Lalonde insists produced water from the coal seam could not penetrate
their well structure, four layers each of steel and concrete, to mix
with subterranean fresh water.
Shell faced a battery of protests last week, during a series of public
information sessions attended by a Royal Dutch Shell representative
from the company's head office in the Netherlands.
The SWCC hand delivered a large box containing 1,730 letters from
North Americans opposing Shell's project in the so-called Sacred
Headwaters, the ecologically sensitive watershed where three of the
province's major salmon-bearing rivers begin. The package was handed
to Barnaby Briggs, from Shell International's Social Performance
Management Unit, to hand deliver to Royal Dutch Shell CEO Jeroen van
der Veer.
The handoff occurred amidst one of several protests outside Elks Hall,
with representatives from several community and First Nations groups
shouting anti-Shell slogans.
Despite the protests, Shell said the open house was well attended with
approximately 80 people dropping in over the two-day period.
The protests fell on the heels of an official letter of opposition
released by Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs.
"The Wet'suwet'en are in full support of the Tahl'tan in their fight
against [Royal Dutch Shell] and have passed an agreement in principle
to support the Friends of Wild Salmon Declaration."
That declaration was signed by the councils and board of directors of
several Northwest towns and their districts, including the Town of
Smithers. The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako is awaiting a
presentation from Shell Canada before voting on their endorsement of
the declaration.
Having routinely promised the most environmentally sensitive operation
possible, Shell is asking the public to await data from this season's
test drilling before they pass judgement on the project. The company
said it plans to drill six wells to determine whether the gas will
flow, if those wells will produce the potentially toxic waste water
and what scale of an operation will be needed if the project is green
lit.
During an information session delivered to the Chamber of Commerce
Thursday, the company hinted that the government permitting process
would eventually require them to file an application for at least
1,000 wells total in the Klappan, Prudential and Nass Valleys.
"You want a company like Shell doing this," said spokesperson Kathy
Penney. "Not five or six separate companies who will all do it their
own way."
