Lloydminster MLA, Colleen Young in her capacity as energy minister says she has had regular updates from Cenovus Energy since the oil well blowout at the Rush Lake Thermal facility north of Paynton.
“My technical people have been in the area working with Cenovus. It has been a unique situation.”
The incident was reported on May 9 and Cenovus Energy has set up a community phone line at 1-877-697-4480 that residents may call with their questions.
“They did try cementing off – after the initial blowout to slow the steam. It is a steam assisted gravity well. Cementing slowed it down but it did not stop it. They are trying some alternative mitigation as well. I have been kept up to date and there is no health harm to folks in the area,” says Young.
The energy minister adds Cenovus is monitoring air quality on a daily basis. She admits like many residents to smelling the sour gas while driving down Highway 16 on her way home.
“They have been able to mitigate that to a great extent and are working on closing off the well and making sure that folks in the area are taken care of.”
With Cenovus Energy continuing its work to get the release from Rush Lake 1 and 2 under control, the Energy Ministry says the facilities “will remain closed for the foreseeable future.”
Once the uncontrolled release has been stopped, the ministry adds it will work to find out “the root cause of the incident and identify environmental remediation requirements.”
