Committee Members |
|
| Gerry DeSorcy – Chairman | Marilyn Craig – Secretariat |
| Dr. David Wilson | David Spink |
| Bart Guyon | Bob Clark |
| Randy Gossen | Brian Winter |
| Frank George | Dr. Brent Friesen |
| Maureen Bolen | Kevin McLeod |
| Rob Ollerenshaw | John Squarek |
| Judith Bugg | Ron Wolsey |
| Paul Jackson | Gordon Hannon* |
| *alternate for Cindy Miller-Reade | |
EUB Board and Staff |
|
| Neil McCrank (partial) | Arden Berg |
| Harry Lillo | David DeGagne |
| Eileen Kahler | Danielle Brezina |
| Greg Gilbertson | |
Committee Members Absent |
|
| Dr. Steve Hrudey | Patti Grier |
| Dan Clarke | Rob McManus |
The meeting was opened by Neil McCrank, Chairman of the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board. He welcomed the members of the Advisory Committee and expressed the Board’s appreciation of the commitment members had made to this important public service initiative. He indicated that public safety was a very serious priority and cornerstone of the Board. While the Board believes that projects it has approved to date are safe, recent concerns expressed by the public need to be addressed and changes made if there are gaps to make sure that the public is confident that development of the Province’s resources can continue in a safe manner. The mandate of the Advisory Committee is to identify, validate and review the issues around sour gas safety, obtain and consider the views of Albertans through an out-reach process, and report the its findings and recommendations to the Board. The Board will seriously consider all recommendations and implement as possible.
Mr. McCrank introduced Gerry DeSorcy as Chairman of the Advisory Committee. He described Mr. DeSorcy as a leading expert in public safety and sour gas issues who has over 40 years experience, was a former Chairman of the Energy Resources Conservation Board (now the EUB), founding Chairman of the Natural Resources Conservation Board, and currently an independent consultant.
Gerry outlined what he believed to be his roles and responsibilities as Chairman. He referenced the letter of engagement sent to him by the EUB dated 17 January 2000 and copied to Advisory Committee members which describes the EUB’s expectations of him as Chairman. He added that he will want member input into all matters and will have draft minutes, agendas and other documents circulated for input before finalizing.
Gerry indicated that he will carry out an appropriate Chairman’s role but will also be an active participant because he has an interest and concern with the issues. Specific roles of the Chairman and others will be dealt with thoroughly during development of the Advisory Committee’s Terms of Reference.
Gerry introduced Marilyn Craig of the EUB as Secretariat to the Advisory Committee. She will be responsible for assisting the Chairman and committee members as required.
Each member introduced themselves and constituency represented, and provided a brief description of area of expertise, interest in the process and degree of understanding of the sour gas industry and issues.
Gerry pointed out that Rob McManus, Commissioner of the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission had shown an interest in participating in the process as an observer, not a working member. He felt that the Advisory Committee would likely deal with issues and present findings and recommendations which could be applied to B.C. operations as well, therefore he believed it would be beneficial for him to participate. Advisory Committee members in attendance had no objection and Mr. McManus will be advised that he is welcome to attend future meetings.
A list of Advisory Committee members with pertinent information was circulated at the meeting and members were asked to make any corrections necessary.
ACTION ITEM: An updated list will be forwarded to all members prior to the next meeting.
Harry Lillo presented an overview of sour gas and its hazards, effects of hydrogen sulphide on people, contribution of the sour gas industry to the economy, what regions of the Province sour gas is most commonly found, minimum separation distance requirements from sour gas facilities, failure statistics and recent events leading to the formation of the Advisory Committee.
A handout was provided to attendees prior to the presentation and will be sent as an attachment to the minutes for those who were not in attendance.
A discussion took place regarding development of Terms of Reference for the Advisory Committee that would be acceptable to all members. Members were directed to the letter of engagement of Gerry DeSorcy, the backgrounder document and the Terms of Reference of the 1993/94 committee which were provided in the package of information sent. It was suggested that information from these documents could be useful in developing Terms of Reference. A possible outline was provided to members and revised. It was agreed that the format should distinguish between the technical matters and administrative matters. It was also suggested and agreed that the Committee should spend some time on identifying common beliefs and values and include these in the Terms of Reference.
The Advisory Committee agreed to the following outline:
A question was asked about how the Advisory Committee would know when it had completed its work. It was agreed that the Terms of Reference would need to clearly establish goals and tasks that would be consistent with the mandate the Board has given to the committee. Once that work has been accomplished this committee can consider its work complete. It was recognized that there will be an on-going need for communication regarding sour gas issues as long as there is a sour gas industry. It was suggested that a product of the group could be a road-map of where the issues are currently and the direction they may go, with suggestions of how to proceed with future processes.
ACTION ITEM: The Advisory Committee spent some time addressing each component of the Terms of Reference and it was agreed that Marilyn Craig will use this information to draft a Terms of Reference, receive input on the draft from Frank George, Maureen Bolen and Kevin McLeod. Marilyn will then forward the draft to all Advisory Committee members for comment, incorporate all comments and provide a revised draft to committee members in early March.
A discussion took place regarding development of a VISION statement. Following are the key comments that were made:
The following were key comments in discussing a MISSION statement towards accomplishing the Vision:
Possible COMMITTEE OUTCOMES include those items identified in 4.0 of the backgrounder document and the following:
Committee members indicated that they will need access to all relevant information in order to properly assess including a complete list of EUB processes so it can review everything currently being done. EUB staff will ensure that the committee has all relevant information.
The following KEY BELIEFS AND VALUES were identified:
TASKS that the committee will need to perform to accomplish the goals and objectives were identified as follows:
ACTION ITEM: David DeGagne will work with other EUB staff to develop a listing, and process maps where possible, of all EUB requirements and processes for new and existing sour gas development including the order in which they occur. Where possible, information regarding other jurisdictions and their standards will be included. Staff will also provide the committee with a description of how competing interests are balanced by the Board in its decision-making processes. A synopsis will be provided to the committee approximately one week in advance of the next meeting and staff will give a presentation on the material at the next meeting.
ACTION ITEM: Marilyn Craig will work with Randy Gossen, Ron Wolsey and Steve Hrudey to provide an overview of the work of the 1994 Advisory Committee including each element dealt with, processes used by the committee, what worked and what didn’t work, which recommendations were accepted by the EUB and which were not including why, what actions were taken and any learnings from the committee. A report will be provided to the Advisory Committee members prior to the next meeting for discussion.
ACTION ITEM: Harry Lillo will provide the Advisory Committee with an inventory of relevant initiatives currently underway to address issues that this committee will not deal with. The inventory will include an overview of what is being done and the timing of the work. An inventory will be provided prior to the next meeting.
ACTION ITEM: David DeGagne will develop a list of the key areas or issues the EUB would want the committee to address and receive recommendations on. The list will be provided to the Advisory Committee prior to the next meeting.
The committee discussed preliminary ideas and identified early work that could be done. A summary of the discussion follows:
Broad Public Input – thoughts on how to obtain meaningful input:
ACTION ITEM: Marilyn Craig will identify regions of the Province, and any existing public groups that could be included in the outreach process. Information will be provided to the Advisory Committee in March.
Constituency Input:
ACTION ITEM: Those representing constituencies were asked to provide the committee with views in writing on how best to obtain input. At future meeting a sub-committee could be struck to compile the information and develop recommendations on best approaches. Committee members were asked to send their views to Marilyn Craig by end March.
Frequency and Duration of Meetings
The target completion date for the Advisory Committee’s report to the Board is
September 30, 2000. The committee agreed that it should meet frequently initially until it
has a better understanding of the time the various tasks will take. The public outreach
process would likely need to be completed by the end of June to meet this target. The
committee could write its report and recommendations in July and August. Gerry indicated
that it may be possible to move the completion date back slightly if that would be helpful
in completing the extensive amount of work that will need to be done. He will approach the
Board to see if that would be acceptable. The committee to consider holding afternoon and
evening meetings occasionally to suit those who may not be able to participate during the
day. For now, meetings will be scheduled during the day. Friday was the most agreeable day
of the week to hold meetings.
The following meeting dates have been scheduled: Fridays March 10, 17, 24 and 31, and
April 14 and 28. All meeting will be full days beginning at 9:00am unless otherwise noted.
Location of Meetings
Meetings will be held in Calgary at the offices of the EUB. If a suitable room is not
available at the EUB offices, arrangement will be made at a location close by.
It was suggested that once the committee is organized and operational it should be
flexible enough to hold meetings in other areas of the Province and possibly provide the
opportunity for the public to attend. It was agreed that this could be discussed again at
a later date.
Committee Name
The sub-group responsible for drafting the Terms of Reference were asked to provide a
suitable committee name in the draft.
Governance
It was agreed that the Advisory Committee will make decisions on a consensus basis with
the proviso that all views will be recorded.
Minutes
It was agreed that committee members will receive meeting minutes via e-mail in draft form
and will have an opportunity to comment on them prior to being finalized.
It was also agreed that all members will provide copies of e-mail messages or other
information to all members to ensure that everyone has a complete record. Whenever
possible, e-mail should be used as the communication tool amongst committee members.
Resources
The EUB will provide any resources the committee requires to conduct its work. The work of
this committee has been identified as a high priority by the Board and it has a budget and
staff available to the committee. All committee members will be involved in identifying
resources required and selecting suitable consultants. However, any contracts must be let
by the EUB on behalf of the committee because the Advisory Committee would not have legal
status.
Communication with Others Including Media
Gerry agreed to be the key media contact and spokesperson for the Advisory Committee.
However, others can feel free to comment as well if contacted. The committee agreed to
consider the possibility of holding regular press conferences and releasing information on
a regular basis. Other means of communicating were discussed such as public service
television outlets, posting information on a web site such as the EUB site
(www.eub.gov.ab.ca) or new web site specifically for this committee, and fanning out
information through community newsletters.
ACTION ITEM: Greg Gilbertson will establish a web site for the Advisory Committee prior to the next meeting. He will prepare a draft news release for the release of the Terms of Reference and membership list once completed. This information will be posted on the web site once established. All meeting minutes will be posted to the web site once they are finalized.
Committee Expenses
The Board would expect that the respective organizations being represented by committee
members would meet any costs associated with attending meetings, however where there are
concerns this could be discussed on an individual basis.. For public members, the EUB will
meet reasonable out of pocket expenses.
Some educational needs had been addressed earlier in the meeting. It was agreed that committee members and EUB staff could provide initial education to the committee where possible with further experts brought in as needed. The following additional educational needs were identified:
ACTION ITEM: All committee members were asked to provide Marilyn Craig with a list of suggested readings to supplement the list on page 34 of the PCF Sour Gas Backgrounder. Marilyn will compile a complete list and provide it to committee members.
ACTION ITEM: Harry Lillo and Brent Friesen will work together to arrange a presenter and engage an expert, and will also develop a list of specific questions for the expert to address. An expert such as Dr. Sheldon Roth from U of C could possibly do some work for the committee.
ACTION ITEM: Harry Lillo and Dr. Wilson will work together to ensure the committee gets the information it requires.
ACTION ITEM: Harry Lillo and Randy Gossen will arrange to have Bill Leiss of U of C give a presentation to the committee.
ACTION ITEM: Harry Lillo will ask Dr. Hrudey if he could present this information to the committee.
ACTION ITEM: Frank George agreed to organize and schedule a field visit prior to the next meeting. He will work with Harry Lillo and Marilyn Craig to set it up.
Committee members were asked if any stakeholder group had been missed on the committee. It was suggested that a representative of the Aboriginal community should be asked to participate.
ACTION ITEM: Arden Berg will pursue this further.
Assignments were reviewed. These items are identified as ACTION ITEMS throughout the minutes.
Dates scheduled include March 10, 17, 24, and 31, and April 14 and 28. All meetings will held at the offices of the EUB unless otherwise advised.
