Operational Concerns Database: Keeping Current with Changing Regulations

Larry Herd
Boyd Exploration Consultants Ltd, Calgary, AB

As industry strives to uncover more and more of the earth's buried resources, access to the surface to research and exploit those resources is becoming more problematic. Rapidly evolving federal and provincial regulations pertaining to surface land activity make it difficult for the industry to keep their knowledge current. At the risk of heavy fines and even jail terms for corporate management, companies are scrambling to ensure compliance.

The Species at Risk Act (SARA) and the provincial counterpart Alberta Species at Risk Program (ASARP) provide operational regulations which dictate what industry can and cannot do when conducting seismic, drilling and pipeline operations in the province of Alberta. Operational constraints facing companies include timing restrictions, compulsory setbacks, buffer zones of restricted operations and even immediate shutdown of operations when certain wildlife species are spotted in the vicinity.

Companies must mitigate the risks associated with operating in areas of environmental concern by preplanning their program a long time in advance and staying current with all of the various changes in requirements.

This poster presentation shows graphically the regions of operational concern in Alberta for oil and gas activity, including both provincial and federal areas. A centralized GIS database of information is reviewed which provides companies with current regulated area descriptions.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90039©2005 AAPG Calgary, Alberta, June 16-19, 2005