Environment

There is a belief that to have a strong economy you must sacrifice environmental protection. At Osum, we think differently.

While there is a view that energy extraction and environmental interests are inherently at odds, we believe there is a balanced path forward. One that is neither simple nor obvious perhaps, but one that rejects outright the premise that our operations need cause lasting harm to the environment. Certainly, in the short term, our business does have some impacts. We do not deny that. However, we believe that thoughtful planning, open and honest dialogue, and a careful approach can prevent and alleviate impacts and ensure that the land is not permanently affected.

The Taiga Project: Specific examples of responsible development.

The “balanced approach” philosophy has guided our stakeholder engagement, corporate citizenship initiatives, operations and facilities design from the beginning. For example:

Low impact cut lines were used when seismic was acquired over the lease.
We’ve reduced the number of required well pads by over 40% through innovative design measures. This will also reduce associated infrastructure.
Taiga will not use fresh water for steam generation.
The non-potable water we do use will be recycled with efficiencies of up to 90% or greater.
On site waste disposal through a deep disposal well will significantly reduce the number of hauling trucks on the roads, and eliminate the use of fuel to transport waste.
We’ve planned to use existing Rights of Way and cleared areas where possible to minimize our surface footprint.
Cogeneration, introduced during Phase 2, will dramatically increase the project’s energy efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint.
The facilities will include a Vapour Recovery Unit to eliminate odours.
We’ve been proactively engaging stakeholders for over three years through town halls and other meetings, community groups, digital and traditional media, anonymous surveys and other channels.
We’ve demonstrated citizenship and long term commitment to the area through our involvement in a number of capacity building initiatives.

The Regulators in Alberta

In Alberta, the Energy Resources Conservation Board (“ERCB”) and Alberta Environment (“AENV”) exist to hold energy providers accountable to a high standard of responsible development. In addition to our accountabilities to our other stakeholders and our shareholders, we are accountable to the ERCB and AENV. These regulatory bodies require the submission of an Environmental Impact Assessment, which helps stakeholders and our company understand specifically what must be done to build and operate our projects in an environmentally responsible manner, what the impacts will be, and how we can avoid or mitigate them.

You can request a complete copy of our Taiga Project Environmental Impact Assessment (or EIA), which was submitted in December of 2008, on CD ROM here.

You can also download a Plain Language summary of the EIA here.

The Scope of an Environmental Impact Assessment

An EIA enlists dozens of scientists and consultants and uses field analysis, scientific and economic models, interviews and other approaches to assess the full impacts a project could have on the environment and surrounding communities. It looks at human and economic impacts as well as impacts to air, water, wildlife, biodiversity and vegetation. A few of the areas covered in the document include:

Assessing how operations will affect traditional ways of living by enlisting Aboriginal consultants in the areas of Traditional Land Use and Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Considering how traffic and noise will affect anyone near the project.
Taking area samples (often referred to as baseline samples) over an extended time frame to assess current conditions (before a project begins).
Reviewing how to protect rare species that live in or near an area.
Developing a template for thorough progressive reclamation processes once a facility has been shut down.
Assessing air quality and ensuring that it is kept well above acceptable standards.
Identifying species of fish and wildlife that inhabit the area. (We intentionally request that employees do not fish, hunt or encourage encounters with wildlife, and will enforce this).
Assessing the taxes and royalties paid to governments, jobs created, capital investments and other economic impacts of a project.