Are companies required to notify the ERCB and residents prior to flaring or incinerating?
Prior to planned, as opposed to emergency, flaring or incineration, operators are required to provide 24 hours’ advance notice to the appropriate ERCB Field Centre, to all residents within a 3 kilometre (km) radius for sour gas well tests and to all residents within a 1.5 km radius for oil well tests (regardless of the H2S content) and sweet (containing no H2S) gas well tests. Additional “good neighbour” notification, including notice for short-duration events, should be conducted if members of the public have identified themselves as being sensitive to emissions from the facility or if they are interested in receiving notice of planned flaring or incineration for other reasons. The ERCB expects operators to provide an information package to the public prior to planned flaring or incineration.
