Gas not leaking from carbon project: review

A scientific review says there is no evidence to support claims that carbon dioxide is leaking from a high-profile Saskatchewan project.

A team of engineers, geologists and geophysicists reviewed claims made by a consultant who said soil samples showed conclusive proof that gases are escaping from a carbon sequestration reservoir in Weyburn, Sask.

The team assessed the findings of a firm called Petro-Find Geochem Ltd., which conducted the report on behalf of Jane and Cameron Kerr, whose discovery of a series of bizarre phenomena on their property near Weyburn – including strange algal blooms, dead animals and fizzy water – made them suspect gas was bubbling up. Petro-Find found high levels of carbon dioxide in soil gas, and concluded that it “is clearly the anthropogenic CO₂ injected into the Weyburn reservoir.”