Residents to rally against northwest oil well

Treed crown land sits behind the Royal Oak Wal Mart near the corner of 85 St. and Country Hills Blvd. N.W., roughly the location of a sweet-oil exploratory well slated to be drilled by Kaiser Exploration later this year. (SUN FILE PHOTO)

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Dale Hodges would rather not see a day when residents have to walk around an oil or gas well in the middle of Olympic Plaza.

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It may sound like a long shot, but the Calgary alderman believes it could happen without an urban drilling policy in place.

?We?re trying to get the province?s attention on actually having some policies ? which they don?t ? on urban areas,? Hodges said.

?I?m not holding my breath, but hopefully the province will decide there should be some rules.?

City council will discuss how it can best accomplish that Monday, but on Sunday there will be a rally for what Lowe called the start to the conversation.

The Rocky Ridge Royal Oak Community Association (RRROCA) is hosting the rally to stop drilling that is being proposed north of Royal Oak, west of 85 St. N.W.

Lowe said the pitch to drill is going to happen again and again.

?The entire City of Calgary sits on a huge methane bed, which means that sooner or later somebody will want to extract that,? he said.

?The issue and dealing with the issue really falls in the hands of the province ? it?s their legislation and their boards that are regulating this at the moment.?

Ward Sutherland, an RRROCA spokesman, called the prospect of a drill site 400 metres from homes and a major watershed ?alarming,? one his group has been opposed to since the beginning.

The Energy Resources Conservation Board approved the application despite an official letter of objection provided by the city. The association and some aldermen share concerns of transportation of raw crude along city roads.

But after recent conversations and a tour of the area with Alberta Energy Minister Ken Hughes and Calgary-West MLA Sandra Jansen, Sutherland is optimistic the ball will get rolling in their favour.

?It was a complete (180 degrees) from the previous minister,? Sutherland said of his discussions with Hughes.

?He was very open.

?He said he would get back and guarantee some commitments and I?m confident that Sandra will be making an announcement (Sunday).?

Neither Hughes nor Jansen could be reached for comment. Sunday?s rally runs from noon to 2 p.m. at the Royal Oak Centre.

damien.wood@sunmedia.ca?

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