Some Grade 5 students had the opportunity to see the science in their curriculum at play outside of school.
On September 21, H.W. Pickup students in Petra Hynes and Heather Kotek’s class got to visit a reclaimed Secure Energy lease, thanks to a partnership with Eagle Point Blue Rapids Parks.
Hynes says the class really enjoyed the field trip. “The students learned about wetlands, groundwater, the reclamation process, and [Secure] had some environmental scientists from Calgary come out,” she says.
Representatives from EPBR did some pond dipping with the kids, which allowed them to see some of the organisms that live in the water.
Lori Landers, a neighbour of the lease, says she was happy to see the land be reclaimed. She said she has seen the land in its original state, as it was when it was in use by the oil and gas industry, and now as a reclaimed wetlands.
Rhonda Rudnitski, the vice president of environment, social, and governance with Secure, says they have been welcoming students for some time.
“We’ve been doing school field trips with various schools in the Drayton Valley area on that site for the last five to seven years,” she says.
She says they partner with EPBR for the field trips, and try to target grades that are learning about environmental sciences so it ties in with their curriculum.
“The actual site itself was a functioning oilfield waste management facility,” says Rudnitski. She says it took waste from the oilfield, treated it, and then either disposed of it or made intermediate products out of it.
“The site is now closed and we are in the process of reclaiming it and remediating it,” she says.
The project is one that will take several years and involve lots of technical experts. She says this is one of the reasons they like to bring in students.
“It gives them an opportunity to learn that there are actually good jobs in science and technology in Alberta and Western Canada that you can do with the environment that are interesting and exciting,” she says.
Rudnitski says they also want to show that Secure is a responsible company that takes responsibility for the impact their business can have on the environment.
She says this particular site has won environmental awards because Secure chose to reclaim the land into boreal forest for the local wildlife, instead of into agricultural land as the area had been boreal forest to begin with. Rudnitski says returning the land to its original state is common practice among all oilfield companies, including Secure, but with this area they wanted to contribute to the habitat for the wildlife.
“It’s really great to have the kids out,” she says. Since a lot of the kids have parents in the oilfield, it gives them an opportunity to see positive aspects of the industry. She says this is especially important at times when the industry has been receiving lots of criticism.
“It’s good for them to see something positive and investment into good things,” she says.
She says working with EPBR makes the experience even better. “They’ve got some very talented and capable people who love working with kids.”
