Environmentalism and the Natural Gas Industry

One of the qualities contributing to the increased popularity of natural gas as a fuel source is that it is the cleanest burning of the three fossil fuels, meaning its combustion emits the least amount of carbon dioxide. This does not mean that its use is without environmental impact, although great strides have been made in reducing that impact. Both participants within and observers of the natural gas industry concur that in its early days the environment was not given much consideration in the quest for petroleum. Drilling was unregulated, and gas plants were few and small.

Air pollution may have been considered an inconvenience, but it did not raise serious concern until the advent of large-scale sour gas plants, which emitted either toxic hydrogen sulfide or sulfur dioxide, less toxic perhaps but the

primary component in acid rain. In 1957, air quality monitoring began at Pincher Creek, while another site, Shell Waterton, inspired a lawsuit. In 1961, the newly formed Air Pollution Branch of the Alberta Department of Health passed regulations designed to limit sulfur emissions. Throughout the 1960s, an awareness of the need to safeguard our world began to spread amongst the general public. In October 1967, a powerful documentary aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, “Air of Death,” examined the effect of industrial pollution upon humans and agriculture and further heightened Canadian environmental consciousness. Growing environmental concern converged with rising sulfur prices, and higher sulfur recovery guidelines were instituted along with more rigorous monitoring protocols.

During the 1970s and 1980s, environmental and conservation concerns both expanded and specialized. It became clear that clean air required the larger ecosystem to remain healthy as well. Groups devoted to local issues became active while at the same time international collaboration amongst groups focused attention upon the global context for all environmental issues. As concerns grew to include water and soil pollution, climate change and global warming and the destructive footprint of drilling and development, a more environmentally aware public insisted on increasingly participatory processes within the petroleum industry. Such a shift began to emerge during the 1980s

when the industry began to incorporate more dialogue in its approach. Instead of simply announcing projects and then having to defend them, companies began to propose projects and then educate the public about them. Efforts to minimize the environmental footprint included reducing flaring and venting as well as using technology to make exploration and drilling less intrusive. Companies began to hire environmental scientists, and environmental audits of successes and failures were published. Economics may have contributed to this shift as, by this point, the notion of “the bottom line” had expanded to include environmental and social performance in addition to pure profit.

As the regulatory bodies and standards for both the environment and the industry continue to shift beneath the feet of the environmental advocates, concerns continue. During the 1990s, government policies drew accusations of bias towards industrial development at the expense of environmental protection or public safety as well as of undermining regulations and standards by simply not enforcing them. This has led some to accuse the government of having given the petroleum industry free reign as a

reward for having transformed Alberta into one of the wealthiest provinces in Canada.

Finding the perfect balance between responsibly developing Alberta’s rich natural resources and safeguarding the population and the environment remains as much of a challenge today as it was in the days when unrestrained flaring kept Hell’s Half Acre eternally and unnaturally light and warm and green.