As if we didn’t have enough reasons to be concerned about the planet, people have been making reckless decisions for a while now.
At least the mistakes of the past have paved the way for a somewhat more responsible present.
In the late 1800s, the Geological Survey of Canada recommended drilling in the Athabasca Oil sands region in northern Alberta. Parliament provided $7,000 for drilling in 1894 with the hope of finding the oil pool they believed was buried beneath the sands, similar to previous discoveries in southern Ontario.
The operation was led by experienced petroleum driller A.W. Fraser, who began work at Athabasca Landing in August of that year. By October, they had discovered two pockets of natural gas, which seemed to confirm the presence of oil, as gas is typically found above oil in a reservoir.
However, after months of work and drilling 1,770 feet beneath the surface, they found nothing at this location and abandoned the well.
In 1897, they tried again at Pelican Portage, where the Pelican and Athabasca Rivers meet. This time, they hit a gas reservoir at a much shallower depth, and the eruption was intense.
“At 820 feet, a tremendous flow of gas was struck, which blew every drop of water out of the bore. The roar of the gas could be heard for three miles or more. Soon it had completely dried the hole and was blowing a cloud of dust 50 feet in the air,” Fraser’s report describes.
Library and Archives Canada, PA-015499
“Small nodules of iron-pyrites, about the size of a walnut, were blown out of the hole with incredible velocity. They came out like bullets from a rifle. We could not see them going, but could hear them crack on the top of the derrick. It was impossible to do anything with the bore that day, so we were forced to let it stand just as it was. There was danger that the men would be killed if struck by these missiles.”
Although the well was expected to exhaust itself so drilling could resume, the gas spewing out of the well was deemed “untameable” and continued to blow wild for 21 years, occasionally being set ablaze.
“The flow of gas was ignited from time to time, making the area a popular winter haven for local Indigenous people and the subject of great wonder,” Fraser recalled.
The Canadian government ultimately gave up on the idea of oil in the region, deciding instead that the region’s value lay in fisheries and furs instead.
By 1898, drilling was discontinued, and the government’s involvement in the area ceased until 1913.