04/01/2014
50,417 abandoned wells yet to be reclaimed in Alberta, and counting!
The 2004-2005 Annual Report of the Auditor General of Alberta stated:
“Without a requirement for timely abandonment (and reclamation for oilfield waste management facilities), and subsequent monitoring and enforcement, industry may defer their abandonment and reclamation activities and costs. If certain licensees do not meet their responsibilities for abandonment and reclamation activities in the future, other licensees or the government may have to cover the liabilities.”
Weren't we taught growing up that if we made a mess, we should clean it up right away? If we didn't someone else would have to. Parents would say "on the count of three..." It worked because if we didn't meet that timeline, there were discplinary consequences. Maybe it's time Alberta legislated timelines for well abandonment and reclamation, so that those who made the mess, will be the ones held responsible to clean up the mess.
Rural landowners are angry at the rate that abandoned oil wells are accumulating on their land. Without legislated timelines for industry to clean up well sites once production has stopped, landowners and environmental groups say the legacy of this side of the energy industry is already a major burd...