Arletta is pleased to announce that we have teamed up with Groundwater Resources Information Technologies (GRIT) to create a combined entity, Arletta Water Resources.

With over 50 years of combined experience, Ken Hugo and his team of hydrogeologists work in the groundwater supply and evaluation field for commercial, agricultural, industrial, municipal, and residential clientele.

As a subsidiary of Arletta, the Arletta Water Resources group will be primarily working with commercial property developers and owners, municipal engineers, acreage owners, the agricultural sector and environmental and municipal planning consultants, providing support for subdivisions approvals, Water Act licensing and studies for regulatory or financial institution approvals.

We are excited to gain some new team members along with their ample experience to be able to offer these water resource services, and add to our expertise in subsurface investigations.

As 2022 is nearing completion, it is time to prepare for annual data review and reporting on Environment Social and Governance (ESG) metrics and initiatives.

Before gathering data, a reporting company should consider the driver behind preparing an ESG report: regulatory compliance? Stakeholder involvement? Internal goal setting and tracking?

Once the purpose and audience of the ESG report is understood, a framework should be selected and a data gap analysis conducted to identify available records vs data needs.

As we come to the end of Q3, it is time to assess upcoming annual reporting needs, set up information routes, and decide how data will be managed, gathered and verified. Putting in the planning time now, will make for a smooth reporting season in 2023.

If your team is evaluating ESG reporting options, Arletta can assist with strategy and goal setting, data management system development and implementation, understanding applicable frameworks and conducting data gap analysis, as well as preparation of the 2022 ESG report.

Arletta has been maximizing the funding received on behalf of our clients through the provincial Site Rehabilitation Program (SRP, in AB) and Dormant Sites Reclamation Program (DSRP, in BC), and is well underway with completion of Site Assessment work in Northern BC.

Site Assessment work provides the information necessary to plan and budget for the appropriate closure path at each site: Is a site in need of remediation? Site-specific considerations to limit or eliminate remediation? Or straight to surface restoration and management?

A good site assessment also provides an accurate picture of a site’s liability, helping clients to understand their properties and similar properties in the area.

Arletta is proud of our success with obtaining SRP funding, and putting it to effective use on area-based assessment and cleanup programs. Feel free to reach out to discuss how we can kick start your ARO program with future SRP funding!

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The M&A space has been showing signs of new life in the past several months, during an unprecedented year of operating conditions for our oil and gas clients. Arletta sees this as impressive resilience and adaptability in the face of challenges, and we have had the pleasure of performing environmental due diligence for a series of major acquisitions in Alberta in 2020.

Arletta has broad experience and expertise in dealing with environmental liability concerns related to acquisitions and divestitures. As a team, we have been part of the pre-acquisition assessment of tens of thousands of wells and facilities.

We conduct customized Environmental Liability Assessments that bear in mind the size, scope and age of the acquisition as well as time constraints that may be associated with the sale. We know what to look for, we know what facts really matter to your organization, and our staff are flexible and responsive to your needs, regardless of whether your acquisition is a single well pad, an area of operation, or an entire corporation.

Additionally, we understand the need for discretion with regards to these types of transactions and at Arletta your confidentiality is ensured.

When your business needs to perform an environmental due diligence, you can rely on the services of Arletta. Message us if you are interested in discussing our approach. We are happy to provide references and a list of previous environmental due diligence work we have conducted.  

Federal funding that was committed in April 2020 under the COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, has made its way to Western Canada to pay for end of life activities on inactive and dormant locations. We know of many licensees with a backlog of inactive locations that would benefit greatly from this influx of targeted funds.

However, the process of applying for this funding has been challenging for many service companies and licensees.

Arletta has been able to help our clients navigate the application process, as well as the groundwork of prioritization and organization of their inactive or dormant well lists. This has been an opportunity for many licensees to build an Asset Retirement Obligation program from the ground up, and Arletta’s staff have the necessary expertise to assess and rank your inactive licenses for remediation or reclamation planning.

We look forward to continuing to work with licensees to build these ARO programs and take advantage of future rounds of funding!

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Let us take a moment to be grateful for the things that haven’t changed this year - gorgeous sites ready for their Detailed Site Assessment, and Reclamation Certificate!

A Detailed Site Assessment (or, DSA) is the final stage before we can prepare a Reclamation Certificate Application. A successful DSA will show that the land use capacity of the lease is equivalent to its surroundings, by including data on vegetation cover and health, soil composition and depth, and landscape and contouring.

With the current abundance of inactive leases, producers may not even be aware that they have a portfolio of Reclamation Certificate ready leases, simply needing a DSA. Arletta’s professional staff are practiced at recognizing these leases when doing site checks, and can quickly get them off the books.

Even when a DSA does not show that a site is ready for a Reclamation Certificate, we can use that DSA data to provide an accurate and effective reclamation cost estimate to progress the site to closure.

DSA’s and Reclamation Certificate Applications are some of the core work that Arletta’s professional staff take pride in conducting. We are well versed in different land uses, vegetation species and using professional justifications. Arletta’s project management staff also understand how to build a reclamation portfolio that keeps on going - building sites in at every stage of the process to keep Rec Certs coming for years!

As we prepared for our 2020 season, Arletta identified health and safety as a core value of our company and culture, that we will maintain and grow as our company expands. We made the decision to not only cultivate a strong culture of safety for our employees, contractors, and peers in the places where we work, but also to demonstrate that commitment to our staff and our clients, with the official Certificate of Recognition (COR).

A COR badge means that Arletta has developed a health and safety program that meets strict provincial standards. This program supports every task and every job we do. Not only do our staff and contractors adhere to this program every time they go to work, we are always looking for ways to improve our systems and ensure they are useable and teachable to our staff.

Arletta has the experience and expertise to effectively manage large portfolios of sites, from approval monitoring through to end of life reclamation. These jobs often involve multiple contractors at work on a site, where a prime contractor is needed to bring one coherent plan and safety program into play. We have worked hard and are proud to say that with our COR certification, Arletta can confidently fill that role as prime contractor for even the largest clients, knowing that our standards of health and safety will meet or exceed all expectations.

As we forge ahead in a very uncertain time, we want you to know that Arletta is there to support your operational needs. We have put safety and logistical protocols in place to ensure that essential environmental support work can be completed safely, efficiently and cost effectively as we endure the social distancing measures required to contain Covid-19.

With our competent team of trained professionals located in Calgary and a strong support network of field technicians located around the province, we can safely provide emergency spill response and regulatory environmental services to your sites.

Arletta’s professional staff are also available to assist you in navigating your 2020 regulatory requirements. We are working with our clients and the regulatory authorities to ensure timely updates for compliance concerns critical to your operations. 

At a time like this, we hope that your best preventative practices get you through, but should the need arise we hope you will consider calling on us.

Stay safe, stay healthy,

The Arletta Team

The Chinchaga River is in a beautiful Canadian landscape, not often visited except by those in industry, or the particularly adventurous. Arletta is in the area every summer, centered in High Level, Alberta, to conduct AER mandated reclamation monitoring at an historic sour blowout site. The hour long helicopter ride into site is always a highlight, and we save the client mob costs by also conducting the surface casing vent flow and gas migration tests while onsite.

This Chinchaga area site will require final remediation and reclamation work to reach regulatory closure. Since taking over the management of this site, Arletta is preparing a data gap analysis and ESA work plan for AER approval in order to move this site to closure. Area Based Closure (ABC) and informal work sharing possibilities are also being explored - Arletta understands that it is important with remote site work like this to get in once, and get it done!