For more than four decades, the Coleman natural gas plant 50 miles north of the Montana border used about 9 million gallons of water per year, all of it from the Crowsnest River.
Upon acquiring the plant in 1998, Devon set about to slash that figure.
We accomplished this goal by implementing a water recycling system and by switching our steam-driven pump to an electrical pump. These two operational changes resulted in a nearly 40 percent reduction in both fresh water taken from the river and wastewater requiring disposal.
The official term for the recycling process is reverse osmosis. Robert Boyce has a much simpler description: “Think of it as a fancy coffee filter,” said Boyce, who is Devon’s environmental advisor for southwest Alberta.
The Coleman plant was commissioned in 1961 and went through several ownership changes before Devon became its operator through the company’s 1998 acquisition of Northstar Energy Corp. Named for the nearest town, the plant produces 50 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. It is a sour gas plant, meaning the gas entering the plant contains hydrogen sulfide. It is Devon’s only such plant where the resulting sulfur is recovered and sold.
The plant is located in Crowsnest Pass, a major wildlife corridor in the Rocky Mountains.
Devon implemented the recycling system in 2006 and 2007. After filtration, much of the produced water is clean enough to reuse. This reduces wastewater as one of several environmental benefits. Reducing wastewater has virtually eliminated the need to haul it through several towns on the way to the disposal site 120 miles away. Reduced hauling cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions and road wear.
“We’ve gone from having to haul off thousands and thousands of gallons of wastewater to hauling none in the last two years,” Boyce said. “We know we will have to at some point, but we haven’t yet.”
Replacing the plant’s steam-driven motor saves nearly 4,700 gallons of water per day. Also at the Coleman plant, Devon recaptures all of the rainwater that falls onsite. That water is used to make steam and then is recycled.
“There are so many advantages to what we’re doing at Coleman,” Boyce said. “The winnings are fantastic, environmentally and otherwise.”
Additionally, Devon is the corporate sponsor of an effort to determine the trout population in the Crowsnest Drainage. This assessment, to be conducted by the Alberta Conservation Association, is expected to take place in 2010. The data should help fishery managers better protect and conserve local trout populations.