Wellsite Remediation Portfolios

Waterline was retained by an oil and gas producer to manage an area-based portfolio of inactive well sites in northwestern Alberta and progress the sites towards limited remediation, long-term risk management, and/or reclamation under a multi-stakeholder agreement.

Environmental issues at these well sites range from localized impacts to hundreds of metres long plumes that are impractical to remediate using a typical wellsite remediation approach. The well sites are situated in forested areas with complex and varied topography, geology and hydrogeology and a multi-faceted approach is used to manage these sites.

Waterline uses a practical, experience-based approach to manage impacts at this group of well sites that generally cannot reach the desired environmental endpoints using a typical approach. Our approach includes, but is not limited to:

• Developing conceptual site models and remedial/risk action plans that use a stepwise, practical approach

• Modelling  identified impacts to develop remediation and/or risk management timelines and strategies

• Developing 3D visualizations of impacts to enhance communication amongst stakeholders

• Prioritizing, implementing, and executing multi-year environmental strategies

• Conducting groundwater-surface water interaction investigations and deep assessment activities to better understand receptor risk

• Developing low-cost, technically defensible, site-specific guidelines and leveraging our technical expertise and relationships with regulators

• Using the limited remediation certificate and reclamation certificate processes to achieve regulatory closure

• Working with other stakeholders to resolve comingled environmental issues and associated liability allocation

Waterline supplements the expertise of our professionals by using a proprietary, fully integrated data management and reporting software to automate routine reporting tasks, eliminate error-prone tasks and efficiently visualize regional and site data.

Waterline believes that soil conservation and net environmental benefit should be considered when developing remediation and risk plans. Consequently, properly conceptualizing site conditions and receptor risks and planning remediation and risk strategies based on this site‑specific data are critical for successfully managing environmental impacts.