Imperial seeks third environmental assessment, this one for closure

Imperial Oil is requesting the launch of what would be a third concurrent environmental assessment related to its operations in Norman Wells.

In a letter last week, Imperial asked regulator the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board to begin an assessment that covers how the site will be closed and reclaimed.

That request had been anticipated. Imperial had said for months it was near the point of asking for such an assessment.

The site – a series of producing oil wells for more than a century – is expected to close in the next five to 10 years, with significant economic consequences for the town of Norman Wells.

Two environmental assessments connected to the oil field are already under way. Both were triggered last year by the Sahtu Secretariat, which represents Sahtu Dene and Métis interests.

The Sahtu Secretariat first requested an assessment of pipeline repairs that will involve work beneath the Mackenzie River. That request was made in part because the technique involved is somewhat novel and some residents have concerns about environmental risks posed to the river and downstream communities.

The secretariat then requested a broader assessment of the entirety of Imperial’s Norman Wells operations, saying no such assessment had happened in decades, during which the environmental and socio-economic landscape had changed.

Imperial has more than once suggested there is overlap between the Sahtu Secretariat’s concerns in triggering that second assessment and the issues the company hopes to cover in the new closure assessment.

Whether that means those two assessments might end up being combined is not clear. The review board must now decide how to handle Imperial’s request.

In its letter to the regulator, Imperial said it expects a closure assessment to take five to seven years.

Starting one now will allow for “meaningful engagement in developing closure plans” and the provision of funding to local Indigenous governments for that work, Imperial stated.