The Alberta Energy Regulator has issued an environmental protection order against Lexin and LR Processing Ltd., an affiliated company, requiring them to address environmental concerns at the Mazeppa sour gas plant.

Lexin and LR Processing were ordered, on August 9, 2016, to suspend the Mazeppa gas plant and related infrastructure.

The Energy Regulator has also suspended the licences of all Lexin wells, facilities, and pipelines, meaning the company will have to shut down operations.

In a release, the regulator says Lexin has failed to comply with multiple orders, doen's have enough staff to manage its more than 1,600 sites, and owes more than $1 million in orphan fund levies and administrative fees and more than $70 million in security for its end of life obligations.

It says repeated attempts to bring the company into compliance have failed so the regulator has little confidence in Lexin's ability to conduct its operations safely and is taking measures to prevent increasing risk to public safety, the environment, and finances.

The AER has been advised that equipment has been removed from AER-licensed Lexin properties and has sought a court order to stop this from happening. On February 14, 2017, the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta issued an interim order prohibiting removal of equipment from Lexin's AER-licensed sites, subject to review of the order by the court on February 17, 2017. If anyone has information about the removal of Lexin equipment over the past six months, please contact the AER's 24-hour emergency and complaint line at 1-800-222-6514.

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email us at news@okotoksonline.com