Positive relationships are essential to unlocking our success. We work to ensure that our operations are compliant with all legal and regulatory frameworks established by the authorities in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We are, however, conscious that our continued operations are also dependent on the relationships we develop and maintain with our community neighbors and other stakeholders.

We recognize that we are corporate citizens in the communities where we operate and that our employees and contractors are often the main point of contact between us and our stakeholders. As such, all Enerplus employees and contractors are expected to honestly represent the interests of our organization with our stakeholders and to act as conduits for our stakeholders to engage with us.

The following outlines our commitment to stakeholder engagement so as to foster mutually beneficial relationships, to maintain our business interests and to promote economic and social development in our operating areas.

Stakeholder Engagement

We work to ensure that our operations are compliant with all legal and regulatory frameworks established by the authorities in the jurisdictions in which we operate. We are, however, conscious that our continued operations are also dependent on the relationships we develop and maintain with our community neighbours and other stakeholders. We firmly believe in working to establish relationships based on trust, and mutual respect which can lead to long-term benefits for both Enerplus and our stakeholders.

Enerplus believes that by actively and openly engaging with our stakeholders we foster an environment where we can pursue our business interests while contributing to the economic and social well-being of our stakeholders and the communities where we live and work together.

We listen to and respect stakeholder concerns and are working with local communities, government and industry to address potential concerns with the Project. As part of our stakeholder consultation program, we are fully committed to meeting all regulatory requirements, respecting stakeholders issues and concerns, working collaboratively with various levels of government, other oil sands operators and other stakeholders to address impacts and issues associated with oil sands development in the region, as well as addressing environmental and socio-economic impacts through innovation in our business.

Aboriginal and First Nations Stakeholders                                                                                      

We recognize the unique relationship that North America’s First Nations and Aboriginal peoples have with the lands in areas where we operate.  We also recognize the unique legal and treaty obligations that exist between First Nations and various levels of government and various regulatory bodies.  We strive to engage all First Nations and aboriginal communities in our operating areas with the intention of developing relationships based on trust, mutual respect and common understanding.  We are committed to developing long-lasting relationships where Enerplus can benefit from local understanding in areas such as traditional knowledge, environmental stewardship, and socio-economic development and where our activities will have a long-lasting, positive impact on these communities.

We began consulting with our neighbouring First Nation and Métis communities in 2007.  We will continue to proactively consult with these communities throughout not only the approval phase, but throughout the entire life of the Project.

Consultation

We recognize that our operations have an impact on the communities where we operate. In order to ensure that communities and other stakeholders have access to timely, accurate information with regard to our current or planned operations and projects, we are committed to engaging in consultation with our stakeholders. These consultations can range from face-to-face meetings, town halls, or written correspondence, however, these categories are not meant to be exclusive or definitive. Throughout the life of the project we will continue to provide information to our stakeholders. Our stakeholders can also be assured that any questions, issues or concerns can be directed to us for consideration at any stage of our project development or operations.

Environment

We are committed to protecting the environment and the health and safety of persons and communities affected by and involved in our business activities. We have adopted the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers ("CAPP") Stewardship Framework and are committed to the framework’s Health, Safety and Environment ("HSE") principles. We reinforce this commitment by promoting and supporting a culture in which employees and contractors share ownership in HSE.

We strive to achieve superior HSE performance, and have been awarded CAPP’s Platinum Level of Stewardship, which requires implementation of a management system, periodic external audits of this management system, public consultation and community relations, and benchmark reporting.

Our goal is to demonstrate social responsibility and to proactively identify opportunities to improve our performance. We plan to use the Enerplus’ HSE Management System as the basis for environmental management at Kirby. We are committed to seeking innovative approaches to emission management, reduction of fresh water use and deep well disposal and minimization of our developmental footprint.

Air Quality

Enerplus recognizes that good air quality is important to the environment and to our stakeholders. To address this, we plan to:

• capture and burn vapours from tanks and vessels and use these as a fuel source to reduce CO2 emissions and external energy needs;
• use low-NOx burners in our steam generators to reduce emissions;
• use residue gas as the primary fuel for steam generation to reduce emissions;
• eliminate the continuous routine flaring of site products to reduce emissions;
• install a preventative maintenance system to help minimize fugitive emissions; and
• recover excess heat from produced emulsion and use as heat in other areas of the plan to reduce external fuel requirements, reduce emissions and to improve energy efficiency.

Land

Enerplus understands that its activities could have the potential to impact the terrestrial environment. To minimize potential impacts, some of the environmental protection measures we will implement include:

• progressively reclaim areas disturbed by Project activities to minimize impacts such as soil erosion and to enhance the early return of suitable wildlife habitat;
• develop only those areas required for successful construction and operation of the Project to conserve the resources in the Kirby area;
• develop a conservation and reclamation plan to ensure that lands disturbed by the Project are reclaimed to an equivalent land capability following operations; and
• develop an environmental constraints map to help guide us in locating our Project facilities and infrastructure in areas of low environmental sensitivity.

Water

We recognize that fresh water is an essential natural resource for the communities, businesses and ecosystems in which we operate and we will need to effectively manage water supplies and reduce wastewater disposals. We are committed to the development of water management practices that conserve and protect water resources and enhance the efficiency of water utilization at our facilities, including:

• using a saline groundwater source for make-up water to minimize our fresh water usage; and
• wherever possible, including project design opportunities to recycle the water stream back through the system to make most efficient use of this important resource.