Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on earth, including different animals and plants and their ecosystems. Our company operates in a variety of ecosystems, some with sensitive characteristics. Our long-term business success in these areas depends on our ability to understand and manage environmental issues, including biodiversity.

Our approach
Our Upstream exploration and production activities in particular can interact with a variety of natural areas, including foothills, prairie ecosystems, northern peat lands and Arctic areas. Careful consideration of biodiversity is an important part of our ongoing operations and project planning in these areas.

Performance at a glance

Our actions include:

• monitoring wildlife
• considering biodiversity when designing new projects
• funding wildlife studies
• using low-impact technologies
• changing operating practices
• sponsoring community programs and projects

What we are doing

Partnering with Ducks Unlimited Canada
Since 2005, Imperial and Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) have been collaborating on a wetland restoration trial program at Cold Lake. We have strengthened this relationship with a comprehensive $720,000, four-year partnership project focused on wetland inventory and research.

Through this partnership, we are working together to better understand wetland features within the Cold Lake area and apply the knowledge gained in planning future development to minimize wetland disturbance. One of the first steps in the project includes the development of an enhanced wetland and earth cover classification mapping to provide a science-based foundation on which to grow and develop better land use practices to reduce our footprint. In 2010, we worked on an inventory of the Beaver River watershed covering 1.7 million acres to provide information to support this project.

Our partnership is also supporting another project in the Horn River area of northeastern British Columbia, where we are exploring for shale gas. The project will involve mapping wetlands in the region and creating an inventory of waterfowl and their habitats in more than 11 million acres of the Taiga Ecozone. This work will be used to evaluate and create ecologically based land-use practices while continuing to develop the resource in an economically viable way.

Cold Lake's Wildlife at Work program receives recognition
As the biggest in situ oil sands project in Canada, with a lease covering 780 square kilometres, the Cold Lake operation is steward to a sizeable amount of wildlife habitat. Various wildlife monitoring programs have been in place for decades, and we remain committed to their continuous improvement through the operation's Wildlife at Work program.

At Cold Lake, we encourage field operators to use observation cards and a winter tracking system to record the movement of wildlife on our operating lease. The lease area also provides forested habitat that is attractive to bats, and for several years, employees have maintained bat nesting boxes throughout the area.

A wildlife team has been formed with volunteers from different plant and field operating units to bring new ideas forward. Team members act as ambassadors championing programs, soliciting new ideas and renewing enthusiasm for long-standing monitoring by helping to educate others as to its purpose and value. The team provides a formal work plan and progress report to Cold Lake operations management once a year.

In 2010, the team worked with the Wildlife Habitat Council, Ducks Unlimited Canada and the Alberta Conservation Association regarding the design, construction and maintenance of nest boxes for birds on site. Using remote camera studies, the team is also studying the movement of large mammals across above-ground pipe.

In 2010, Cold Lake's Wildlife at Work program was certified by the Wildlife Habitat Council, the first-ever Upstream oil and gas site to be so recognized in Canada.

Protecting wildlife at Kearl
During project construction at Kearl, we are employing protective measures to keep wildlife away from areas that are unsafe or may attract them too close to workers. We have placed signage throughout the site to remind workers to work carefully in environmentally sensitive areas. We also timed tree clearing and construction activities so as to minimize impacts on wildlife and habitat. In 2010, we scheduled construction of a water intake pipeline in the winter so as to avoid impacts to nesting birds.

In 2010, we submitted our plan for a bird deterrent system to the Alberta government. The advanced radar-based system is designed to identify and deter birds from the external tailings pond and will be operated and monitored by a dedicated team of workers. We plan to begin operating the system later in 2011.

Collecting seeds for future land reclamation
To prepare for future reclamation at Kearl, we are participating in a seed collection program organized through the Canadian Oil Sands Network for Research and Development. The seed bank holds a diverse representation of tree and shrub seeds to use when reclaiming land disturbed by oil sands mining. In 2010, the group collected 860 litres of seeds, of which 86 litres will be allocated to Imperial for future restoration work. In 2011, we also began collecting local cuttings as part of our ongoing reclamation efforts.

Conducting field studies in Beaufort Sea
In 2010, the Ajurak-Pokak joint venture, gathered environmental data to better understand biodiversity and ecosystems in the potential project areas. The program included evaluating the distribution of whales and polar bears, studying fish and zooplankton present in the water column and monitoring life found on the seafloor of the lease area. Water and sediment quality in water depths of up to one kilometre deep were also studied to understand the baseline conditions in areas where our project may operate in the future.

Using low-impact technologies
We are using low-impact technologies to minimize our footprint in environmentally sensitive areas. When drilling gas wells in prairie ecosystems in southern Alberta, we employ self-levelling rigs, which avoid the need to clear a level surface. Another innovative system is being used to “plough in” new pipelines (a bulldozer with a special attachment creates the trench, lays the pipe, and covers it with soil in one sequence). In the Horn River Basin of northern British Columbia, we are creating narrow and meandering seismic cutlines to reduce the impact of our exploration activity to vegetation and wildlife.

Changing operating practices
Over the last several years, in response to community concerns, we have modified night-time lighting at our Cold Lake operation, turning off lights at virtually all of our field pads. By minimizing night time lighting in the area, we also expect to reduce impacts on local wildlife. Studies have shown that night time lighting from industrial facilities can negatively affect migration patterns and reproduction cycles of wildlife, and increase the exposure of some species to predators.