An Alberta judge
has ordered the owners of a gas plant to provide drinking water for a dairy
farm and family whose wells were contaminated.
The lawyer for Ron and
Lonni Saken says the plant's current and previous owners still need to
compensate the family for land that will be tainted for a generation.
"We can't just leave
them here," said Keith Wilson. "If the companies have destroyed this,
then the companies need to buck up and relocate this farm."
The Alberta Energy
Regulator ruled Thursday that Bonavista Energy must truck enough water to the
Saken dairy farm near Edson for the family, their employees and all their
cattle.
That must total at least
9.5 million litres a year, said the regulator.
The family's wells have
been contaminated by sulfolane, a solvent used in treating sour gas. It has
seeped from a plant Bonavista bought from Suncor in 2010.
Bonavista first discovered
the problem and informed the family about the problem in March, 2014. The
company's investigation concluded the leak began before Bonavista purchased the
plant.
The company has since
drilled the family a new well, but that water is highly alkaline and has heavy
concentrations of flouride. As well, the open tanks required to let dissolved
methane vent have allowed bacteria in.
"(The cattle) aren't
drinking the water," said Lonni Saken. "They're drinking half as much
as they should be."
The farm has been in the family since 1929.
