Projects in Communities

Statement on the Trican 12-08-061-05W4 well in Town of Bonnyville

Ongoing Operation and Management of the Historic Well - December 2, 2024

Background

The Orphan Well Association (OWA) has been directed by the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) to address concerns with a leaking historic gas well located in the 4500 block between 45th and 46th Avenue within the Town of Bonnyville. The well was drilled by the defunct licensee Trican Petro-Chemical Corporation in 1954. As the company has not been inexistence since the 1960’s, the AER designated the well as an “orphan” and directed the OWA to decommission the well. The OWA wants to ensure nearby residents and other stakeholders are informed of our ongoing safety efforts, and the pending repair and decommissioning plans for the well.

At the time this area of Bonnyville was developed, there were no requirements to identify historic wells as part of development plans. In 2012,rules were established by Alberta Municipal Affairs that made it a requirement to help prevent these types of situations from occurring. For more information on this requirement, please visit https://www.aer.ca/regulating-development/rules-and-directives/directives/directive-079.

In June of this year, the well, which was previously decommissioned to the standard of the day, was found to be leaking minor volumes of sweet natural gas (mostly methane). In response, the wellbore was located and excavated, and a monitoring program was implemented to regularly check gas levels in the vicinity of the wellbore. This monitoring continues several times per week. The OWA has also installed a vapour recovery system near the well to capture gas from the soil. While the vapour recovery system has helped to reduce gas volumes in the soil, some minor levels of gas remain in soils near the wellbore and to an area south and east of the well. As a safety precaution, the OWA installed continuous methane detection units in several homes in the vicinity of the well to ensure methane levels remain at safe levels. We continue to monitor these units which provide live data 24 hours per day.

Additional Mitigation

The OWA is installing additional mitigation measures that we hope to have in place by the end of November 2024. This additional mitigation should help to ensure homes in the area of the well remain safe.

Based on our sampling to date, we are satisfied the area around the well remains safe and does not pose a risk to residents or the public.

The OWA continues to work closely with the AER, the Town of Bonnyville, the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority, and Alberta Health Services to ensure public safety is maintained.

Homes to be Removed

Some homes in the immediate vicinity of the wellbore will need to be demolished in order to provide access for a drilling rig so the well can be properly decommissioned.

Once purchase agreements have been finalized, residents will need sometime before vacating their properties. The OWA recognizes this will be a difficult time and we want to give displaced residents time to move from their homes.

Decommissioning Plans

We have been working for several months to develop detailed plans for the decommissioning of the well. Our plans call for the smallest possible footprint for the drill rig while ensuring the safe decommissioning of the well. It is anticipated that the earliest date for this work would be in early 2025. This is subject to change based on multiple parameters and stakeholder feedback. The decommissioning program will require very careful and detailed plans for on-site operations and access to and egress from the site. Issues such as traffic patterns, road closures, timing of operations, duration of operations, noise and light impacts and mitigation, are currently being reviewed. The OWA wants to ensure we engage with residents around pending operations and will hold an open house several weeks prior to mobilizing the drilling rig. This will be an opportunity to not only provide information on our plans, but also enable residents and other stakeholders to share their concerns and questions. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact us via the link at the end of this newsletter.

Thanks

The OWA would like to recognize the Town of Bonnyville, the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority, the AER, and Alberta Health Services for their cooperation and assistance in helping us develop mitigation and decommissioning plans for this well.

Stay Up-To-Date –Get the most up-to-date information on the project from our website http://www.orphanwell.ca/community/

Questions? – If you have questions about this project; please email us at info@orphanwell.ca .

Decommissioning of the Historic Well - November 20, 2024

Background

The Orphan Well Association (OWA) will be conducting a well decommissioning program in January 2025 on the historic Katana 06-12 well, located adjacent to the northwest corner of the municipality of Diamond Valley (Turner Valley side). See the blue dot in the image below for the location.

‍History and Characteristics of the Well

‍The Katana 06-12 well was drilled in 1930 and never produced. The well was “drilled” using an old cable-tool system and took over a year to drill. This same well could be drilled in a matter of days with today’s modern drill rigs.
The well has a small leak and currently vents approximately 0.5 m3 of sweet gas (methane) per day. That’s about the same amount of gas that a standard barbeque on ‘full” would use in an hour.
Although this well never produced, it has proven to be a difficult well to decommission. A predecessor of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) first attempted decommissioning in 1996 but were unsuccessful. The OWA attempted to repair this well before, and although we have learned much about the well each time, we have not been successful in achieving full decommissioning.

Plan
The OWA has spent the last year working with decommissioning engineering experts and the AER to develop the best plan for decommissioning this well. To give us the highest possibility of success, we are proposing to bring a drilling rig to site. This will be the largest piece of equipment ever put on this well. This larger rig will give us the flexibility and power needed to overcome any expected obstacles we could encounter during the decommissioning operation.
We plan to kick-off operations on this well in mid to late January 2025 and expect to be on-site for approximately two weeks. If all goes according to plan, we could be finished in under a week. If we run into any downhole issues, the operations could extend up to one month (worst-case scenario).
The drilling rig for this project is a very large piece of equipment and will involve up to 20+ individual truckloads to bring the rig to site. This could take up to 2 days just to move the rig in. Once the rig is in place and operations begin, there will be a need for different services to visit the rig each day. This will mean smaller truck traffic to and from the site for the duration of the operation.
Operation of the rig will be ongoing for 24 hours per day however, nighttime operations will be restricted to minimize traffic in and out of the site.
The decommissioning of old wells is a low-risk and safe activity. We will be using the largest piece of equipment available to ensure we are equipped to manage potential downhole challenges, though we cannot guarantee this will be the last operation on this well. The well will remain in a long-term safe state after this planned operation.

‍Logistics

‍We are planning for all access to the site to be via Highway #22 (from the north of Diamond Valley) and Dunham Lane. We recognize that some Town residents and County acreage owners require Dunham Lane for access, so we intend to keep the road open for local traffic at all times. We do anticipate, particularly during the primary rig move, that some minor delays may be incurred while larger pieces of equipment are trucked in/or, but we anticipate these to be minimal and short-term only.
The well will then be accessed via a truck trail through the acreage to the site. Some wooden matting may be used over softer areas of the land.

Safety
The operations do not pose any additional safety risks to nearby residents. Precautionary measures have been incorporated into our plans, and our personnel are professionals that deal with well drilling and decommissioning on a daily basis.

Mitigating Impacts
As the well is approximately 100 metres from the nearest subdivision, we are planning for mitigation measures to minimize impacts and disruption to nearby residents.

Traffic – All access to and from the well will be via Dunham Lane and Highway #22. Outside of the rig move into and out of the site, we are not anticipating any major delays or disruptions to local traffic. During the rig move, some short-term disruptions may be realized (e.g., flag personnel will be located to assist traffic).
Noise – The rig will need to run 24 hours per day, though overnight operations will be minimized as much as possible. A barrier will be installed between the rig and the subdivision to the east to help dampen noise. This may comprise of a bale fence or other noise-dampening materials.
Light – The rig we are bringing to site is equipped with an advanced lighting system that is designed to fully illuminate the rig floor but minimize stray light outside of the immediate vicinity of the rig. The sound barrier as mentioned above will also help to mitigate any light impacts on nearby residents.
Air Emissions – Equipment in use in this operation are mostly diesel-driven systems. As such localized diesel fumes will result from ongoing daily operations. We will strive to ensure only necessary motors and generators are on. Other than where heat is required, we will maintain a no-idle policy for all vehicles on site.
Dust – As the operation is taking place in the winter, we are not anticipating any significant dust impacts. Watering/freezing will be engaged if required.

Thanks
The OWA recognizes that we are conducting this operation in your “back yard” and as such we want to thank you for your understanding and cooperation. The OWA would also like to recognize the Town of Diamond Valley, the County of Foothills, and the AER for their cooperation and assistance in helping us develop a decommissioning plan for this well.

Stay Up-To-Date –Get the most up-to-date information on the project from our website http://www.orphanwell.ca/community/
Questions? – If you have questions about this project; please email us at info@orphanwell.ca .

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