Roxanne Walsh did not move to Turner Valley to be a water advocate. But moving to Turner Valley has made her one. A dedicated and articulate citizen, Roxanne has worked to protect the town's drinking water from the legacy of early oil and gas production.

When Roxanne moved to Turner Valley in 1998, she wanted a place to settle and cultivate a deep connection with her community. But two events sparked Roxanne's concern about her drinking water. In 2001, two nurses from the Black Diamond Hospital raised concerns about the high multiple sclerosis rate and about the high incidence of neurological disorders and brain cancers in the area. Later, in September 2004, Turner Valley's mayor asked residents to urge the minister to clean up the old gas plant.

In January 2005, Roxanne and fellow residents Julie Walker, Lori Czerwinski, and Larry Ashmore started a group called the Turner Valley Gas Plant Committee for a Safe Historic Site (TVGPC). They were spurred by concerns that the old gas plant located next to the Sheep River, upstream from Black Diamond and Okotoks, and next to the local kids' favourite swimming hole, was leaching contaminants into the river and groundwater.

The Turner Valley gas plant was designated a historic site after it stop operating in 1985 and the government bought it for a dollar in 1988. As the first gas plant in Alberta and built long before environmental laws existed, the practices and technologies used when it was built in the 1930s were significantly different from those today. Dumping of hydrocarbon wastes was not regulated or documented, for example.

The TVGPC visited the town office to research documents about the gas plant. They wrote letters to the government and began asking questions. At first, local and provincial officials felt there wasn't much more they could do.

But, in 2005, flooding in the Turner Valley area highlighted the liability of the gas plant as the riverbanks near the plant rapidly eroded into the river along with whatever contaminants were embedded in those banks. After the flooding, the provincial government allocated $3 million to clean up flood damage and build a river containment system, which proved to be ineffective in 2006 when the next flood hit the area.

In January 2006, Linda Abrams, a business owner and citizen of Black Diamond, petitioned the federal Commissioner of Environment and Sustainable Resources, Office of the Auditor General of Canada, for help. This letter led to investigations of the gas plant by Environment Canada and ultimately construction of a better containment wall and a monitoring and water treatment system.

Accomplishments and lessons learned

Roxanne says she is driven by two guiding principles: "think globally but act locally" and "if you aren't part of the solution, then you are part of the problem."

From 2006 to 2007, Roxanne participated on the Turner Valley Gas Plant Resolution Advisory Panel. She also used the Environmental Appeals Board to push for improvements to the construction of the raw water reservoir and expand water quality monitoring.

Roxanne has also highlighted problems with the media such as during the 2005 flooding event and helping to organize letters to decision makers. Most recently, her efforts led to a petition to the Alberta Legislature presented on February 17, 2009, asking the government to reclaim the gas plant site to parkland standards.

The efforts of Roxanne and other residents in the area helped lead to the establishment of a containment wall between the river and historic gas plant to prevent water contamination. "This work is not for the faint of heart, but it is not impossible to do," said Roxanne. "You've got to find the people who are sympathetic to your cause, and who have knowledge and want to share it, keep their confidence (their identities a secret if need be) and keep them for as long as you can as advisors or moral support."

The work of an advocate never stops...

Despite recent improvements, Roxanne is appealing the location of two of the town's water supply wells located beside the gas plant site. She continues her efforts to make sure that contamination does not reach people's taps.

Roxanne continues her work to guarantee high quality drinking water in Turner Valley. Success in the long term requires time, patience, willingness to work with people who are unable to speak out themselves, willingness to take the flak, and sticking to the highroad in all interactions. "People are doing the best they can, and sometimes their best is what is getting in the way," Roxanne says. "Sometimes, you have to find another way to get the work done."