Teresa Patry is feeling gaslit by Alberta’s oil and gas regulator — and she’s not the only one.
The Vermilion, Alta., farmer and rancher has two active oil wells operating on her land, which, according to an independent air quality assessment, are venting a steady stream of methane and potentially dangerous chemicals downwind from where she lives with her family and livestock.
Patry can smell the fumes from her home, and she believes they are negatively impacting her health and that of her family and animals. But every time she calls the province’s energy regulator, she says they tell her everything is operating as it should be.
“Our home isn’t an industrial site, but it’s sort of been turned into one,” she told What On Earth host Laura Lynch.
Back in 2006 there was less Internet, and people who said the government was in bed with corporations were a little more fringe than today. Older farmers still do business with a handshake. A little bit leopard, and a lot of sheep’s clothing. I have no doubts that the oil man was all promises on total cleanup and zero impact to the family.