Groups to AER: no new steaming at CNRL bitumen leak site until probe complete

CALGARY – Twenty-one groups are calling on Alberta’s energy watchdog to reject another application by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. to resume steaming near the site of a months-long bitumen spill.

The coalition — made up of mostly environmental groups from both inside and outside Alberta — made its plea in an open letter to the Alberta Energy Regulator.

It says the AER must reject CNRL’s application to pump steam underground at its Primrose South oilsands property to ensure no more damage is done to the area, near Cold Lake, Alta.

The groups note some of the locations where CNRL wants to steam are less than 500 metres away from active spill sites.

Last week, CNRL pulled its application to steam at a different location in a “restricted zone” — imposed by the AER last May when an emulsion of bitumen and water was found to be oozing to the surface.

The groups say no new steaming should be allowed to take place at Primrose until the AER completes its investigation into what caused the underground blowouts.