Alberta Environment and Parks has released the Native Prairie Protocol for Reclamation Certification of Salt-Affected Wellsites. The goal of this Protocol is to avoid the disturbance of sensitive native grasslands associated with remediation of salt contamination when it can be shown that the contamination is not causing an adverse effect. The Protocol provides an approach for identifying sites where adverse effects from elevated salinity are not occurring, and are not expected to occur in the future. Sites that meet the conditions specified in the Native Prairie Protocol are eligible for reclamation certification without further remediation even though salt concentrations may exceed Alberta Tier 1 guidelines.
The Native Prairie Protocol is available for download at: https://www.alberta.ca/land-conservation-and-reclamation-guidelines-for-oil-and-gas.aspx