Native elder Cassie Lefthand, 81, is one of many Eden Valley residents who fear that Petro-Canada’s proposed pipeline and sour gas development will be situated too close to their hamlet. One home is within 440 metres of the planned pipeline.

Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald, Calgary Herald

CALGARY - In another challenge to Petro-Canada’s controversial sour gas proposal in the Eastern Slopes, the tiny Eden Valley Indian reserve is trying to block the development with a bylaw barring sour gas pipelines within 1.5 kilometres of its boundaries.

The unusual strategy stems from health and safety concerns for band members, said Calgary lawyer Douglas Rae.

Speaking on behalf of the Stoney Nakoda Nations, Rae said the chiefs have asked for a draft of the bylaw–which has not yet been voted on or approved by council — because they don’t believe the Eden Valley reserve is being treated the same by Alberta’s energy regulator as would a municipality in similar circumstances.

“Eden Valley has higher population density than, for example, Crowsnest Pass,” Rae said. “You wouldn’t need a bylaw if the Energy Resource Conservation Board rules were applied to the reserve as they are to any other urban centre.”

On land just west of Longview, Petro-Canada plans to build a series of sour gas facilities, including a pipeline located within 300 metres of the reserve boundary and 440 metres from the nearest reserve home.

Houses in the reserve are spaced apart from one another in the same manner as acreages. The board says Eden Valley does not have the population density to be classified as an urban centre –which would force a 1.5-kilometre setback should the Petro-Canada project be approved.

But Stoney Nakoda Nations leaders say they are concerned about the wellbeing of about 500 reserve members, many of whom don’t have phones and could be difficult to notify in the event of a sour gas leak.

Petro-Canada says not only is the proposed project a key part of the company’s plays in the Alberta foothills, it will be safe.

“They question why they’re not recognized as an urban centre. The ERCB hasn’t recognized it as such–and we follow the regulations as they’re set,” said Petro-Canada spokesman Kyle Happy, noting that the bylaw is an issue of public policy that shouldn’t be addressed by an oil and gas company.

“A setback is only one of the components of safety when you’re doing an oil and gas development,” Happy added.

He said details have yet to be determined, but emergency plans will take into account communication issues — and the lack of land lines — specific to the Eden Valley reserve.

“It’s easy to say, ‘We’ll get you cellphones.’ But I think it’s going to be dependent on what would work best for the community,” Happy said.

The draft bylaw states the Stoney Nakoda Nations council could allow an exception to their rule should an application be approved by a majority vote of reserve community members–alongside an accompanying application fee of an unspecified amount.

But Rae said the bylaw is not about striking a deal for more money. “It simply provides the chief and council with flexibility. We’re just trying to be reasonable,” Rae said.

“The relaxation might be allowed if, for example, there were to be other safety measures implemented.”

Rae said his clients have received little to no backing from the federal government — even after making numerous written requests for Ottawa’s intervention–in their quest to get the pipeline placed farther afield.

In Ottawa, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency spokeswoman Annie Roy said the agency is aware of the proposed Petro-Canada project, but has not been ordered by any government department to complete an environmental assessment. The department of Indian and Northern Affairs declined to comment on the specifics of the bylaw.

University of Calgary law professor Nigel Bankes–who focuses on resource and aboriginal law — said he has never before heard of a reserve council using their power to make bylaws to fight an oil and gas development.

Bankes said besides passing a bylaw–which typically applies only within a reserve’s boundaries and can be vetoed by the Indian Affairs minister –the Stoney Nakoda Nations may argue that their right to self-government, protected by the Constitution, allows them to stop development outside the reserve.

Landowners in the area have long been opposed to Petro-Canada’s Sullivan Field project, which proposes 11 new sour gas wells and two pipelines in Kananaskis Country, 26 kilometres west of the town of Longview. Ranchers say the proposed pipeline route would ruin one of the last remaining bits of near-pristine land in the province.

Meanwhile, the board has wrapped up all public hearings on the project and will make a decision as to whether it will give its approval or not in less than three months.

kcryderman@theherald. canwest.com