Pipeline Reclamation Criteria Development in Alberta

Discussions regarding assessment of reclamation success following various land disturbances have been
ongoing for a number of years in North America. In Alberta the emphasis was initially focused on coal and oil
sands mines. This was followed by discussions on how to assess oil and gas wellsites and pipeline reclamation success. The objective of reclamation is to have equivalent land capability at the time of application for a
reclamation certificate on the disturbed land. The traditional approach for wellsites has been to use an
individual parameter-by-parameter comparison and pass/fail system. This was also proposed for pipeline
reclamation. Some in the industry felt that there were different approaches possible to evaluate equivalent land capability. NOVA Gas Transmission took the lead in putting together a team of people (NGTL Soils Advisory Board) from other companies, various government regulatory groups, consultants, and personnel from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development and the University of Alberta. The objective is to develop a relatively easy-to-use, cost-effective reclamation evaluation tool.
Various approaches were field tested in fall, 1997. The approaches were revised and will be field tested in
additional geographic areas of Alberta in 1998. This paper describes the process and progress to date.