The energy industry is doing its part in protecting and reviving environments that have been disturbed during the development of energy projects. Often, they proactively begin the process that returns a site to “equivalent land capability,” which is the ability to support land uses as it might have prior to being utilized by industry. This transformation is called ‘reclamation’.

Reclamation is not an overnight fix or even a year-long process, but may take years or decades. In fact, the process can start even before a well is drilled, a trench is excavated, or surface mining begins. Companies must supply a detailed reclamation plan as part of their regulatory application for a project. Plans are frequently developed with consultation and input from local stakeholders, including Indigenous communities

Before work begins on a project, a detailed inventory of environmental features and site conditions is compiled. With this, environmental professionals develop strategies to preserve materials for later use in reclaiming the land, or determine what alternatives may be suitable. In some cases, soil may be removed and stored for later use when the site is being reclaimed; seeds and roots from native vegetation in the area can be collected and stored for future use when revegetating a disturbed site. When a company applies for an energy development project it must have a plan in place to reclaim the site once the project is over. This is just good land management.

Who regulates energy industry reclamation activities in Alberta?  The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) (link) regulates reclamation activities on both private and public land, and for the issuance of a reclamation certificate.

Under the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA) and the Conservation and Reclamation Regulations, energy companies must do everything they can to return the land to a state functionally equivalent to what it was before the development took place.  Companies are obligated to return disturbed land to a state functionally equivalent to what it was before development; they remain responsible, in perpetuity, for any infrastructure left beneath the surface.

Sarah Carla King

Once a site is ready for reclamation, a number of steps need to be followed to properly return the land to equivalent land capability.

1. Disturbed areas are re-contoured and shaped to re-establish grade that was present prior to construction, and to create proper surface water drainage systems
2. The topsoil and subsoil, plus other organic materials, are replaced over the surface landscape
3. In some cases, the topsoil layer contains all of the organic material needed for natural regrowth to occur. In others, vegetation is then introduced, and includes seeding, planting trees and reintroduction of native plants
4. There is a post-construction monitoring phase, where the site is monitored to ensure soil quality and fertility, revegetation establishment, and that surface water quality issues have not been caused by the project
5. Finally, once the land is fully reclaimed, the company can apply for a reclamation certificate. This certificate is only issued once the site meets the original plan’s objectives.

Many operators have adopted a ‘progressive reclamation’ process. They start to reclaim land while production is ongoing. This approach establishes vegetation on part of a landscape area no longer required for ongoing operations. This does not necessarily reflect the final reclaimed landscape but it gets things moving sooner.
Let’s take a look at an example. The average life of a natural gas well is 20 to 30 years but much of the drill site, including access roads, can start to reclaim these sections while the well is still producing. Once a well is no longer productive, then a full site reclamation can begin.

The well operator is responsible to clean up and reclaim the whole site, both surface and subsurface, to safely abandon the well. It can take years to effectively establish a successful ecosystem on abandoned wellsites, but in time the site will be completely reclaimed. As mentioned above, during this reclamation process, soil, surface water and groundwater are tested to ensure the site is not contaminated and poses no threat to the environment, health or safety.

Reclamation techniques and tools have come a long way and continue to evolve, thanks to ongoing field experience and collaboration through organizations such as Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA).
In 2009, oil sands partners launched an accelerated boreal forest reclamation program called Faster Forests.™ The program has led to improved practices and wider adoption of planting a mix of suitable trees and shrubs soon after disturbance, to accelerate site recovery. As of 2019, more than five million trees had been planted as part of the program.

Other oil sands sites that have been reclaimed and are continuing to provide valuable information about novel reclamation techniques include:

• Nikanotee Fen – Suncor, Imperial and Shell partnered in 2013 to reconstruct a three-hectare wetland ecosystem that is being monitored to learn about natural regeneration.
• Wapisiw Lookout was a tailings storage area within Suncor’s original oil sands mine from 1967 and 1997. In 2010 Suncor became the first oil sands operator to successfully reclaim a tailings pond to a solid surface. This 220-hectare site is now growing into mixed-wood forest and small wetland.
• Muskeg Lake at Imperial’s Kearl oil sands development was completed in 2013 to replace fish habitat disturbed by mining operations. Ongoing monitoring of soil, water, vegetation and fish has indicated a thriving and viable ecosystem. In 2019, Imperial started development of Lake Tourangeau, the second phase of fish habitat replacement.

Of course, the oil sands are not the only place where reclamation is active. At its Cold Lake heavy oil development in Alberta, Imperial is employing progressive reclamation techniques using native trees and shrubs that are traditional to Indigenous culture and medicine. And at several locations in Alberta and B.C., innovative reclamation techniques are being applied to linear disturbances such as roads and seismic lines to improve caribou habitat.

Canada has some of the highest environmental standards in the world that continue to be met by industry. The energy sector is making great strides in ensuring the land, once disturbed, is returned to its original state.