BC Hydro worried quakes from fracking could affect dams in province’s northeast
Think-tank says power agency has negotiated new buffer zone
Internal documents show BC Hydro officials have had concerns since at least 2009 that earthquakes triggered by fracking are a potential risk to its Peace River dams.
The electricity-generating dams in northeastern B.C. include one of the largest earth dams in the world, the W.A.C. Bennett Dam, as well as the smaller Peace Canyon Dam and the $9-billion Site-C dam, which is under construction.
The Crown agency has not discussed the issue publicly.
But as a result of its concerns, BC Hydro worked out an agreement, possibly as early as 2014 with the BC Oil and Gas Commission (BCOGC), to create five-kilometre buffer zones around dams where no new fracking and drilling rights are issued, according to a report released today from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, a left-wing think-tank.
There is no ban on fracking or drilling for companies that hold existing rights, but BC Hydro says it will work with the BCOGC, responsible for development and regulation of the natural gas sector, to effectively manage any risk, according to the report.
This is the minimum that should be done, said report author Ben Parfitt, a resource analyst for the centre for policy alternatives.
“If a dam were ever to fail, it would be absolutely catastrophic,” said Parfitt.
Hudson’s Hope, a community of about 1,000, and several other smaller communities are downstream of the Peace Canyon Dam.
In a written response to questions from Postmedia, BC Hydro deputy CEO Chris O’Riley said as far as the agency knows there has never been any fracking within five kilometres of its northeast B.C. dams. Gas rights are held within the buffer of the Peace Canyon Dam and the Site-C location.
O’Riley called the buffer put in place by the BCOGC a precautionary measure.
“That said, our dams are built to withstand much larger ground motions associated with higher magnitude events that are much longer in duration than fracking,” said O’Riley. “In fact, our dams can withstand events many times larger than those associated with fracking.”
Fracking by itself cannot generate large magnitude earthquakes, he said.
Fracking does have the potential to increase natural seepage from these dams, however, which is an issue of increased cost, not dam safety, said O’Riley.
The concerns over fr ac king triggered earthquakes are outlined in email sand letters obtained by the centre for policy alternatives — between BC Hydro officials and also with provincial agencies such as the Ministry of Natural Gas Development, the Ministry Environment and the BCOGC — through a freedom of information request and provided to Postmedia.
The centre for policy alternatives said it is particularly concerned there has been no public discussion of the risk posed by fracking-triggered earthquakes to the Peace dams and believes a stronger response is needed.
That includes creating regulations to make the five-kilometre buffer zones mandatory and extending the buffers to reservoirs. The centre for policy alternatives also advocates creating zones for areas farther than five kilometres from dams to consider whether fracking will take place.
The buffer zones and assessment should be overseen by an independent agency such as the Ministry of Environment and not the BCOGC, said Parfitt, the author of the report.
The largest fracking-induced earthquake, recorded in August 2015 near Fort St. John, was 4.6 in magnitude.
That magnitude is great enough to move dishes and windows, create cracking sounds in walls and feels like a heavy truck striking a building, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.