Information Bulletin Number 5 - May 27th, 2003
Winter Methodology for Oil and Gas AIAs
Applications for permits to conduct archaeological impact assessments of oil and gas developments in northeastern British Columbia may include provisions for inspections to be conducted when the ground is snow-covered and/or frozen. Such inspections will be authorized only for oil and gas developments that can only feasibly be undertaken in winter, because scheduling constraints relating to fluctuating markets make long-range planning or extended postponements impractical for many such developments. The Permitting and Assessment Section regards inspection of proposed developments under these conditions as preferable to exclusive reliance on post-impact inspections, because some sites that would otherwise be impacted by development can be identified and avoided.
Applications for permits to conduct inspections under conditions of snow-covered and/or frozen ground must outline a methodology that includes:
- Criteria for the identification of landforms to be tested
- Specification of conditions, such as deep snow cover, that make identification of the relevant landforms unreliable, and winter inspections inappropriate
- An effective method of removing adequate samples of frozen soil from subsurface tests
- Appropriate test dimensions
- Appropriate test intervals or frequencies
- Methods for controlled excavation of optional evaluative units
- Methods for maintaining provenience control
- Provision for facilities for transporting and processing the collected samples
- Methods for the analysis of cultural materials identified in collected samples
|
