Cenovus Energy says one well remains uncontrolled at its Rush Lake site more than two months after a leak began.
Read more: Cenovus reports Rush Lake “stabilized”
“We have 15 of the 16 wells stabilized and the site is stabilized,” said Clayton Ulrich, Cenovus Energy’s senior manager for upstream operations in Lloydminster during a July 10 media session before an open house.
“We’re still working on the last well right now that is still within our well control.”
Cenovus’s goal for the open house, held in Paynton, Sask, was to update the public on the ongoing release and clean-up efforts.
Ulrich said the leak was first noticed in early May and described the release as “muddy, silty water” brought to the surface by steam.
Vapour also trapped some hydrogen sulfide (H2S) causing a strong odour in nearby areas.
“That’s giving off a lot of the odour a lot of people are smelling today,” he said, noting concentrations of H2S remain low.
“It’s in the parts per billion, not parts per million. It’s well below the health-concern thresholds.”
The company believes a casing failure in one of the wells is to blame. The location of the break is still unknown.
“We’re working with that well right now. We don’t know,” he said, adding Cenovus has tried multiple solutions to plug the well.
“We’ve tried heavy brine fluids, we’ve tried barite, we’ve tried cement. We’ve tried a number of different things.”
Cenovus has shut down Rush Lake 1 and 2 and all wells tied to the site. Production on the site, which producing about 16,000 barrels per day, has not resumed since May 7.
Although Cenovus would not disclose the total cost to the company, 16,000 barrels a day equates to a loss of between $844,000 and $908,000 in daily revenue at today’s market prices. For those doing the math, that’s over $52M.
On top of that, the pad where the leak started will never produce oil again.
“We’re putting it to bed,” said Ulrich, noting Cenovus has built berms and containment systems to stop off-site impact.
“To date, we’ve had no fluid off site,” he said.
Hundreds of members of the public attended a larger open-house after the press conference concluded.
Crystal Miller, president of the Midwest Indigenous Society, attended the event and said it fell short of consultation.
“This was not a community consultation,” she said. “This was a melee of a bunch of people with name tags and no face or no talk.”
Miller said her organization represents off-reserve First Nation, Métis, non-status and Southern Inuit people within 80 kilometres of Lloydminster. She said the group is under the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, a national Indigenous organization recognized by the federal government.
“We do have a right to be consulted. We have not been consulted,” she said, adding her group plans to hold a proper consultation and has invited Cenovus to attend.
Cenovus has been providing daily data to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources, maintains a 24-hour hotline and is conducting door-to-door visits.
Ulrich also acknowledged the company was slow to release information to the public.
“We didn’t do it soon enough. We recognize that and that’s something we’re going to put some more rigour into,” he said, noting the company’s current priority is resolving the final well and working with government on the next steps.
He could not provide a cleanup timeline or cost estimate.
“My focus right now is getting resolution,” said Ulrich.
Read more: VIDEO: Rush Lake full press conference
