Brant will receive $105,000 in provincial funding this year to help deal with the county’s abandoned oil and gas wells.
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The money is part of the Ontario government’s $23.6-million action plan to tackle the challenges related to old and inactive wells. The province is investing $7.5 million into the effort over three years.
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Graydon Smith, minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, was in Simcoe last week to announce $280,000 in funding for Norfolk County.
Graydon said the province is committed to preventing another situation like the one in Wheatley. There was an explosion in the Chatham-Kent community in August 2021 after a hydrogen sulphide leak in the area injured people and destroyed and damaged multiple downtown buildings. Three wells were plugged in the aftermath of the explosion.
“We heard from municipalities across Southern Ontario that they need help addressing the complex challenges related to inactive oil and gas wells in their communities,” said Smith. “This investment will help municipalities build capacity, increase their understanding of risks, and begin to take specific mitigating actions.”
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There are 20 abandoned oil wells and 66 abandoned gas wells in Brant County and Six Nations of the Grand River. There are about 27,000 old and inactive oil and gas wells – primarily on private land – on record in Ontario.
The provincial money will help a handful of municipalities, including Brant, purchase gas monitoring and health and safety equipment, provide health and safety training to staff and develop an education campaign for residents. In addition to Norfolk and Brant, municipalities approved for Year 1 funding are Chatham-Kent, the counties of Lambton, Oxford, Elgin, Essex, and Haldimand and the Regional Municipality of Niagara.
“I am happy to be a part of a government that prioritizes the health and safety of our communities,” said Will Bouma, MPP for Brantford-Brant. “The equipment and training that this funding will secure can go a long way to alleviate concerns that some legacy wells may have created in and around the County of Brant.”
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The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry administers the Abandoned Works Program, which supports the plugging of old and inactive oil and gas wells that are at increased risk for public safety or the environment, by providing financial assistance to eligible landowners.
To date, the province has invested $29.5 million to plug 415 wells in Ontario.
Smith said he encourages property owners with property on their land to reach out for government assistance.
“This isn’t about trying to assign blame or fault on anyone. This is an exercise in safety. The money announced in 2023 is all to make sure people feel comfortable in doing the right thing and reaching out to us so we can better understand the risks of potential lack of risks any individual well may pose.”
Smith said potential risks vary greatly with individual wells and assessment will help ensure “time, attention and money” is spent on those that may pose the most danger.
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