Risk to public ‘extremely low’ at site of Cenovus blowout
Air quality testing is in place, including fixed monitors and mobile monitoring, at the site of what Cenovus calls a ‘well release’ at its Rush Lake thermal facility in the R.M. of Paynton, about 80 kilometres southeast of Lloydminster.
The energy company said the release is primarily water vapour and dirt from the well site, and there is no evidence of any impacts on water bodies or wildlife.
Cenovus is keeping representatives of the Ministry of Energy and Resources updated on the situation. Assistant Deputy Minister for the Energy Regulation Division Rebecca Gibbons said the facility shut down on May 9, and work is still being done to confirm what substances have been detected and what caused the release.
“The risk to the public is extremely low, and the entire project associated with the release has been shut down with the work being conducted to manage the incident and to determine the cause…so that work is ongoing in terms of confirming which substances have been detected and the cause of that release.”
