The federal government has reissued a crucial water permit to Imperial Oil Ltd. that allows work to continue on its $8-billion Kearl oilsands mine – a month after a court ruling led to the permit being voided.

            Environmental groups had vowed to consider suing members of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet, including Fisheries and Oceans Minister Loyola Hearn, if Ottawa reissued the water permit with no conditions to mitigate the Kearl project’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

            Fisheries and Oceans, in reissuing the permit, said it had considered Imperial Oil’s “mitigation measures” related to protecting water quality and quantity, fauna, fish…

           The B.C. Ministry of Environment issued more tickets and reported more convictions for environmental offenses during the first half of this year compared with the same period last year.

           There were 41 convictions reported in the first two quarters of 2007 – more than twice as many as during the same period in 2006, according to the ministry’s second Quarterly Compliance and Enforcement Summary for 2007. The number of tickets issued totalled 731 – up from 679 from the same period last year.

           The ministry also issued 10 orders in the second quarter (April 1 to June 30, 2007) to…

           The Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) has issued an enforcement action against Suncor Energy Inc. over flaring and venting of sour gas from the company’s $2.1-billion Firebag in situ oilsands project.

           The EUB said that Suncor is in non-compliance with EUB requirements, because the venting exceeds allowable levels specified in Alberta’s ambient air quality objectives for hydrogen sulphide. “The EUB views this as a serious non-compliance, and has ordered Suncor to immediately implement measures to correct the situation.” The action comes after joint inspections by the EUB and Alberta Environment.

           Until the Firebag project is in compliance with EUB requirements, no operational…

          The Alberta Court of Appeal has granted Carbon Development Corp. and EnCana Corp. leave to appeal an Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) decision that allows coalbed methane drilling on land where the ownership of the resource is disputed.

           The court granted Carbon Development (previously known as Luscar) and EnCana leave to appeal on three points related to the EUB’s assertion that natural gas in coal is separate from the coal itself – effectively making the gas public property.

           At stake is ownership of trillions of cubic feet of coalbed methane (CBM) on so-called “split title” lands where one party owns the gas,…

           The Woodland Cree First Nation in northwest Alberta has launched legal action against Royal Dutch Shell’s proposed expansion of its Carmon Creek oilsands project in the Peace River region.

           A Woodland Cree delegation of about a dozen people filed a judicial review application in Court of Queen’s Bench in Calgary, asking the court for a ruling that will require the Alberta government to hold “meaningful consultation” with the Woodland Cree about the granting of all oil and gas leases. The First Nation is also asking the court to order a halt to any Alberta Energy and Utilities Board approval of Shell’s Carmon…

           The Alberta Court of Appeal has granted landowners leave to appeal the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board’s (EUB) decisions to allow a proposed $495-million, 500-kilovolt electrical transmission line between Edmonton and Calgary to proceed to a second set of hearings.

            Justice Carol Conrad granted leave to appeal two related EUB decisions to the Lavesta Area Group, a group of more than 50 landowners, and to an individual landowner, Donald Bur. In written reasons for her decision, Conrad provided the Lavesta group and Bur grounds to appeal on seven areas, including a reasonable apprehension of bias. The Lavesta group and Bur still have to…

           CN Rail is facing five charges in connection with a release of caustic soda into B.C.’s Cheakamus River that killed salmon and other aquatic life.

           If convicted, the national rail company could be subject to more than $3.5 million in fines, B.C. Environment Minister Barry Penner said. CN has already been assessed about $200,000 for river cleanup costs under provincial environmental legislation, he said.

           Three of the charges fall under the B.C. Environmental Management Act, while the other two come under the federal Fisheries Act. CN’s first court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 3 in North Vancouver.

           In August 2005, nine CN…

           WesternForest Products (WFP) has asked the B.C. Supreme Court to quash an order by the Sunshine Coast Regional District to halt logging in the region’s watershed because it was deemed to be a health hazard.

           Lawyers for WFP argue that the regional district overstepped its bounds, and they asked the court to put a stay on the order while the case is heard so logging can proceed in the meantime. The 7,300-hectare forested watershed of Chapman Creek provides drinking water to about 23,000 people on the Sunshine Coast.

           The regional district claimed powers under the Health Act, to protect the district’s water supply,…

           EnCana Corp. is seeking leave to appeal to the court a ruling by the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board (EUB) that the owners of natural gas licences have the right to develop coalbed methane (CBM) found on non-Crown land.

           EnCana, after a series of mergers, holds all the coal rights on privately owned land that were originally held by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Between 1900 and 1912, CPR sold pieces of its land grant to homesteaders, who received the rights to the land and the minerals below it – except the coal, which the railway “reserved” to power its locomotives.

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           Alberta Environment has ordered Syncrude to reduce emissions from the oilsands producer’s effluent pond on Mildred Lake, north of Fort McMurray.

           The department says Environmental Protection Order is in response to public complaints about the smell, as well as monitoring of hydrogen sulphide near the effluent pond. Residents in nearby Fort Mackay have made numerous complaints since October 2006.

           Under the order, Syncrude must develop an interim action plan by Sept. 4 to reduce H₂S and ammonia emission from the pond, with a long-term plan due no later than Oct. 1. Last year, the government asked Syncrude to shut down the…