By Kelly Cryderman, Calgary HeraldJune 18, 2009Comments (1)

CALGARY - Lingering concerns over a romance between an oil company staffer and an employee at Alberta’s energy industry regulator may once again hold up a contentious hearing on sour gas development in the Eastern Slopes.

At the heart of a new legal challenge from Longview-area ranchers is unanswered questions about whether the “personal relationship” affected the hearing’s proceedings.

Following an investigation, the Energy Resources Conservation Board (ERCB)concluded the couple’s relationship earlier this year did not compromise the ongoing hearing process for the Sullivan Field sour gas project, proposed by Petro-Canada.

But a collection of landowners known as the Big Loop Group has asked for permission to appear before Alberta’s Court of Appeal to appeal the validity of the ERCB’s decision.

Court filings say the board’s examination of the “personal relationship” was flawed on numerous fronts.

“The applicants submit that the ERCB committed a number of errors of law,” said the notice of motion.

Representatives for landowners did not get to participate in the in-camera investigation, while Petro-Canada did, documents say.

It was last February when, in a highly unusual move, the board announced it would suspended the application process based on concerns the relationship influenced the controversial hearing.

An investigation report released the next month said the ERCB employee had a crush on the Petro-Canada employee during the public hearings– which began last November –but only handed over a business card on Jan. 30, the last day of public presentations in High River.

However, the investigation found the two worked in different areas and likely didn’t influence one another.

The identity of the couples has never been revealed. Court documents from the landowners’ group say a public naming is not required, just transcripts of investigation interviews and other documents, with names blacked out.

Big Loop lawyer Stan Carscallen would not comment on the proceedings this week.

But landowners 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. The ranchers say the proposed pipeline route would ruin one of the last remaining bits of near-pristine land in the province.

However, Petro-Canada says other routes were dismissed due to environmental considerations and the feasibility of construction. The company also said it has given the ERCB a comprehensive environmental assessment.

Last week, the ERCB turned down the landowners’ bid to freeze the hearing process while issues are heard in the Court of Appeal.

Petro-Canada spokesman Kyle Happy said the company’s original position stands. “We believe the board took the appropriate steps to make sure the integrity of the hearing was not compromised,” Happy said.

One of the key issues of the sour gas project hearing is how close the pipeline will be built to the Eden Valley reserve. Petro-Canada wants to build a pipeline within 300 metres of the reserve boundary and 440 metres from the nearest home.

Douglas Rae, the lawyer representing the reserve, questioned the safety setbacks from the pipeline.

Rae’s client is applying as an intervener to the Court of Appeal.

kcryderman@theherald.canwest.com

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