Experimental bitumen extraction project in Fort McMurray area faces local opposition

A novel bitumen extraction project in the Fort McMurray region is facing significant opposition by the community close to which it is located. 

Drift Resource Technologies, an Okotoks, Alta.-based carbon technology firm, says it developed a mechanical process to access oilsands deposits that significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, eliminates the need for tailings ponds and allows sites to be reclaimed much earlier. 

But residents of Saprae Creek, a hamlet about 25 kilometres southeast of Fort McMurray, close to which the project would be built, don't want it to materialize. 

Popular place of recreation

"It's in our residential backyard. It's in our recreational backyard," Damian Asher, president of Saprae Creek Residents Society, told CBC in an interview. "Us residents are back here, our kids are back here. We ride mountain bikes, quads, horseback, go for hikes, grab firewood." 

He is worried about the project's impact on the area. 

"​​The plant's going to run all night long. They're going to have generators, there is going to be lights. They're doing directional drilling," he said. 

Asher said the forested area close to Saprae Creek is just regrowing, eight years after the 2016 fire. 

"And now they want to come in and clear more of that forested area so they can set up drill rigs and start doing directional drilling underneath this land. It's just not acceptable," he said. 

Asher, a professional firefighter, is also concerned about the fire risk. 

"If a fire were to open up at a place like this, one kilometre within residential houses, it's going to enter the community and we're going to lose houses and it's going to risk lives," he said. 

Concerns about engagement

In a statement to CBC, Ryan Cameron, Drift's regulatory and sustainability manager, said the project "holds the potential for significant investment and economic benefits for both Fort McMurray and the province."

The company has "followed all applicable rules, regulations, and processes to obtain the necessary approvals and licences for our proposed project," Cameron said, "including engaging with community members.

"In response to the feedback we've received, we have proposed several mitigation strategies aimed at addressing the concerns raised by community members." 

Wood Buffalo's Mayor Sandy Bowman had his concerns about how Drift went about engaging community members. 

"When we hear from a company that says they've engaged, we're the ones that will fact check, and we did get ahold of the stakeholders and had these meetings, and see that the results from engagement were not recorded accurately, whether it was with the residents or with the stakeholders, the communities around there," he said at the council meeting on Tuesday. 

During the meeting, the council voted to authorize Bowman to write a letter to the Minister of Energy and Minerals Brian Jean on behalf of the residents of Saprae Creek. 

In response to an inquiry from CBC, Jean's office responded that they would "review the letter once we receive it. We expect all proponents to engage with impacted communities to resolve their concern."