Safety & Enforcement
Big or Small, We Inspect Them All
The AER ensures dams used in oil sands and coal development are safe
They can be as small as a swimming pool or as big as a lake. Regardless, it’s up to the AER to make sure the structures that contain them are sound. Most of the dams in the AER’s jurisdiction hold… Read more
Alberta Takes Action on Odour, Air Quality Concern…
New study makes 17 recommendations to address concerns
For years, Fort McKay First Nation has voiced concerns about air quality and odours from oil sands operations and questioned whether current monitoring, response protocols, and thresholds are… Read more
Paying the Price
Energy companies can face financial penalties when things go wrong
When companies don’t follow the AER’s rules, they face enforcement. Our enforcement tools can include shutting in operations, more frequent and detailed inspections, more stringent planning… Read more
When Fire and Flood Strike
The AER and industry must be prepared to respond when Mother Nature tu…
The AER keeps a close eye on Alberta’s energy industry—comes with the job. We must also keep an eye on the weather, as Mother Nature can play havoc with oil and gas infrastructure and it’s not a… Read more
Incident Response—When Prevention Becomes Interven…
The AER must act quickly when crisis strikes
It’s a reality in the oilpatch: incidents happen. Pipeline breaches, well blowouts, sour gas releases, explosions, and other events can—and do—occur anywhere oil and gas activities happen, including… Read more
Seeing Infrared
FLIR cameras make invisible gas leaks visible
FLIR GasFindIR infrared cameras, which use thermal technology to trace and visualize volatile gases, have been used by the AER since 2007 to help detect oil and gas field fugitive emissions. FLIR… Read more
Elevating Geological Monitoring to New Heights
Elevating Geological Monitoring to New Heights
Living in Canada’s Rocky Mountains can be idyllic; on occasion, it can also prove perilous. The coal-mining town of Frank, in Alberta’s Crowsnest Pass, can attest to this. On April 29, 1903, it took… Read more
Why the Earth Moves in Fox Creek
The AER is studying how oil and gas activity triggers seismic activity
Residents of Fox Creek felt the ground tremble on January 12, 2016. The reason: a 4.8 magnitude (ML) earthquake just 35 km from the northern Alberta town. The quake was the fourth over 4 ML to shake… Read more
Sniffing Out Sour Gas
Air monitoring units detect and measure harmful gases
Regulating energy operations isn’t limited to what’s going on above and below ground – it also applies to the air we breathe. The AER’s two air-monitoring units (AMUs), which measure gas… Read more
Dispatches from the Fort McMurray Wildfires: “In T…
Jeff Hughes, a regional coordinator with the AER in the Fort McMurray Field Office, talks about his experience as fires ravaged the city in May, and how the AER is getting back to business in the… Read more
