THE GALLON ENVIRONMENT LETTER
Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment
506 Victoria Ave., Montreal, Quebec H3Y 2R5
Ph. (514) 369- 0230, Fax (514) 369- 3282
Email [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Vol. 3, No. 4, January 26, 1999
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SPECIAL REPORT -- ENVIRONMENTAL DEVELOPMENTS IN ALBERTA
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TWO ARRESTED ON ENVIRONMENT ISSUES IN ALBERTA
Wiebo Ludwig and Richard Boonstra, two Alberta farmers trying
to protect their environment, were arrested January 15, 1999, and
held in Peace River Correctional Centre, Alberta. They were
charged with damaging oil well and gas production equipment,
after they alleged that Alberta was not doing enough to stop severe
pollution from oil and sour gas drilling around their farms. They
each face nine charges under the conspiracy and mischief provisions
of the Criminal Code. The two are part of a group that owns the
128 hectare �Trickle Creek Farm�, 400 km northwest of Edmonton.
There have been reported some 160 incidents of vandalism and aggression
against oil and gas drilling and processing equipment in the area
over the last two years, including tire slashing, pipe bomb explosions,
and threats to employees. Source, The National Post, January 16, 1999,
�Two Alberta Men Arrested in Acts of Oil Field Eco Terrorism�.
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HELD WITHOUT BAIL
Wiebo Ludwig and Richard Boonstra are being held without bail.
Usually this kind of punishment is usually reserved for those accused of
murder, or for those involved in organized crime, or for those involved with
seditious crimes against the state. In addition, three dozen police
officers were sent to searched their property near the village of
Hythe, Alberta. Wiebo Ludwig and Richard Boonstra have gone
on a hunger strike in jail. See The Globe and Mail, January 21,
1999, �Arrest Boosts Ludwig�s Resolve to Keep Battling Oil Industry�.
Website http//www.GlobeAndMail.ca/
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FRAMED WITH A BOMBING THAT WAS NOT THEIRS,
BUT CONDUCTED BY THE ALBERTA ENERGY CO. AND THE POLICE
The Alberta Energy Co. (AEC) and the police in Alberta appear
to have been involved with setting off a bomb at an AEC building
and blaming it on eco terrorists. How could this happen in Canada?
(See �RCMP Blew Up Alberta Shack to Bait Suspects�, in the
National Post, January 29, 1999). The article reports
that, �police carried out the plan to destroy the shack October 14,
as part of their investigation, code named �Operation Cabriolet�,
said Steven Koval, the Alberta crown attorney�, according to the
National Post. It further reported that, under the agreement between
the police and the AEC, �the force agreed to pay the company as
much as $5,000 for the damage its explosives caused� A number
of groups have asked, �who are the criminals?� They also have
asked, �why are Ludwig and Boonstra still being held in jail without
bail, after these revelations?�
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OIL AND GAS DRILLING RAPIDLY INCREASED IN AREA
Ludwig and a group of families purchased and settled into the
Trickle Fam in the 1970's. According to Saturday Night, �back
then there was only one oil well and one gas plant near Trickle
Creek.� Wiebo Ludwig, a conservative man, had no time for the
environmentalists. He had land to work and people to feed. He
felt that environmentalists were frivolous. That all changed in the
1980's. Oil companies found vast pools of Jurassic and Triassic gas
in the South Peace region of Alberta, including under Hythe and
Trickle Creek Farm. And Ludwig�s problems started in the early
1990's when �Calgary�s Ranchmen�s Resources Ltd. had applied
to drill a well on his farm, just 100 metres from his son Ben�s house.
Ludwig appealed the decision. He took the matter, like any law
abiding citizen, to Alberta�s Energy Resources Conservation Board
(later renamed the Alberta Energy and Utility Board, or EUB)�.
Ludwig�s appeal was denied and Saturday Night reported that,
�Ranchmen�s began drilling four sour gas just the other side of
Trickle Creek�s fence.� Between 1990 and 1997 the number of oil
and gas wells drilled around the Hythe community increased from
1,200 to 2,400.
The Energy and Utility Board (EUB) of Alberta refused very few
applications to open up wells and establish facilities. For example,
in 1997, the EUB denied only 55 out of 19,551 oil and gas applications.
Saturday Night reported that, �oil and gas companies were given free
rein by the provincial government, and drilled pretty much where and
when they wanted.�
The source of this information and the following information was
from the latest issue of Canada's, �Saturday Night� magazine
(Vol. 114, No. 1), February 1999, Toronto, in an article by Andrew
Nikiforuk, entitled, �Holy Terror�.
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SOUR GAS HARMFUL TO HUMAN HEALTH
Hydrogen sulphide, or sour gas, as it is know, smells like rotten
eggs. It escapes from deep well drilling and extraction of natural
gas and oil. Most of the time it is well managed by the oil and gas
drillers. It is one of the world�s deadliest substances. Just a whiff of
hydrogen sulphide can kill a person. More than 30 oil field workers
in Alberta have been killed by it in the last three decades. A 1995
University of Southern California report states that continued exposure
to non lethal does of sour gas appears to cause persistent neuro behavioral
dysfunction in humans, such as memory loss. Although there have been
no direct studies on the effect of sour gas exposure on human reproduction,
two recent reports on health effects in cattle show that hydrogen sulphide
can seriously interfere with normal reproduction.
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ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH EFFECTS STARTED MOUNTING UP
Saturday Night reported that, �the Trickle Creek farm was frequently
overwhelmed by the stench of hydrocarbons.� And stated that, �by
1996, two women in the Trickle Creek community had miscarried,
events that, according to Ludwig, corresponded in each case with sour
gas emissions. It found that, �according to a study by the Alberta
government, the health region that includes Hythe has one of Alberta�s
highest rates of pneumonia and bronchitis, both symptoms of low level
gas exposure.� In November 1998, the Alberta Research Council found
that a herd of cattle exposed to a sour gas leak experienced an unexpected
high mortality in neo natal calves following the spill.�
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LUDWIG AND TRICKLE CREEK FARM APPEALED TO THE
GOVERNMENT TO CONTROL THE POLLUTION
In 1991, the Ranchmen�s well leaked a quantity of sour gas into the
air, but the company failed to notify the residents of Trickle Creek,
reported Saturday Night. That Spring, Ludwig says he observed
spontaneous abortions in several dozen of his sheep. In 1993,
Ludwig requested another public hearing on the well before the
Alberta Utility Board.
Shortly afterward, the well leaked again, this time significantly.
It forced the first of three evacuations of Ludwig�s and Boonstra�s
families from the farm. Members of the Trickle Creek family,
coughing and vomiting, spent the day at the Hythe Motor Inn.
Finally the Alberta energy board ordered the Ranchmen�s well
shut down, and reprimanded the company. But it was too late,
the environmental health damage to human and animals had been done.
In August 1998, Renee Ludwig gave birth to a lifeless grey infant
whose skull was not fully formed, reported Saturday Night. It is a
death she and the Ludwig and Boonstra families believed had something
to do with gas flaring from the Union Pacific well near their home.
The families at Trickle Creek began to keep a daily log of well
related problems on and around the farm. It�s now over 100 pages long.
An example, �Jan 14, 1993, smelled sour gas and Mamie had a headache.
Jan 17, 1993, one goat aborted two fetuses and Josh had a headache�.
An appendix in the Ludwig report contains more than 300 letters to the
EUB, various oil companies, and several government departments.
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SOUR GAS DRILLING A $4.0 BILLION BUSINESS IN ALBERTA
AND GENERATES HIGH REVENUES FOR GOVERNMENT
According to Saturday Night, �sour gas is a $4 billion business in Alberta.
The Ranchmen�s well was worth $4 million in revenue to the company. It
was also worth $750,000 in royalties to the Alberta government. Companies
like Alberta Energy Co. Ltd., (AEC) and Union Pacific (used to be Norcen Co.)
undertook substantial sour gas drilling and extraction in the Hythe, Alberta
area.
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ALBERTA COMMITS $3 MILLION TO FIGHT ECO TERRORISM
In late October, 1998, the government of Alberta committed $3
million to fighting what it called �eco terrorism and organized crime.
In November 1998, the Alberta Energy Commission brought in John
Thompson, an expert on terrorism and political instability from the
Mackenzie Institute in Toronto. In Ontario, private investigators, working
for either the oil patch or the Alberta government, are now interviewing
Ludwig�s former congregants in Goderich, Ontario. They confess that they
are doing so to dig dirt to discredit him.�
Source, �Two Alberta Men Arrested in Acts Oil Field Eco Terrorism�
by Carol Howes, National Post, January 16, 1999, Toronto.
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SUGGESTION FOR MEASURES TO FIGHT ECO TERRORISM
Eco terrorism is not condoned. For Alberta, and other governments, one
of the best ways to prevent eco terrorism is to protect the people and
their environment. If governments provide a comfort level amongst the
public that they are being protected, that environmental laws are being
enforced, then people will not consider taking the law into their own hands.
For example, the $3.0 million now being committed by Alberta to fight
eco terrorism, might better be used if it were to be handed over to Alberta�s
environmental enforcement branch.
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ALBERTA�S ENVIRONMENT BUDGET CUT 31%
Alberta's Environment Protection Ministry (AEP) has had a 31%
cut in operating and capital funding since 1992, from $405 million to
$317 million in 1998. By the year 2000, the budget is projected to be
$296 million. That is a reduction of $109 million. The Alberta will
cut environment ministry staff levels by 33 per cent, or 1,550 fulltime
positions, during the 19932000 period. In addition, Alberta committed to
cut environmental regulations in the province by 50%. See Alberta
Environmental Protection website at http://www.gov.ab.ca/env/
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ALBERTA ENVIRONMENT MINISTER TY LUND CHALLENGED
APPEAL TO PREMIER RALPH KLEIN
The Globe and Mail reports that, �Mr. (Ty) Lund has come
under fire for his poor performance on protecting endangered spaces
and for failing to distribute information about the health effects of oil
and gas emissions on animals and people�. Renowned Canadian
environmentalist, Martha Kostuch, Friends of the Old Man River)
made five recommendations directly to Alberta�s Premier, Ralph
Klein on conflicts between farmers, rancher, and the oil and gas
industry. Premier Klein implemented two of them almost immediately.
The Alberta government is setting up a dispute resolution panel for oil
and gas exploration. The province has also announced plans to increase
the number of field staff who monitor emissions, inspect equipment, and
deal with residents. This followed what was described as, �an often
rancorous meeting January 12, 1999 with Ralph Klein, Energy Minister
Steve West, and Ty Lund.� Source, �Alberta Takes Aim at Pollution�,
The Globe and Mail, January 14, 1999.
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