Developing pipeline reclamation standards in Alberta

Development of Alberta's oil and gas industry has led to a proliferation of pipelines in the province. All Alberta pipelines require a reclamation certificate before the proponent is released of reclamation liabilities. This has led to much discussion of how to assess oil and gas wellsites and pipeline reclamation success since the early 1980s. The requirement for reclamation certification is that land have equivalent capability to that which existed prior to the disturbance. The approach that has been used for wellsite reclamation success evaluation is a parameter by parameter comparison and pass/fail system. In this case each parameter must pass or the site fails. NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. undertook, in late 1996, to put together a group of government regulatory and non-regulatory personnel, industry and third party individuals to develop a more integrated capability based evaluation system. Various approaches were field tested in 1997 and 1998. This paper reports on the process used, the field results and current status of the project