It is a sequence of events that has played out thousands of times in Alberta. A surface lease is obtained. Provincial authorizations are acquired. A well is drilled and (hopefully) produces. The well ages, runs down and is suspended. In some instances, where there is a determination that no more oil or gas can be efficiently produced, the well is abandoned.

Once abandoned, liabilities related to the surface lease and reclamation and remediation requirements remain with the operator, until such time that a reclamation certificate is issued and the surface lease expires or is terminated.

The timing for abandonment of the well site and reclamation of the lease is largely left to the discretion of the operator. In some instances, the timeline between abandoning a suspended well and reclaiming an abandoned well can stretch into years (if not decades). This lag has resulted in some landowners turning to the courts in an effort to force abandonment and reclamation. In contrast, other landowners wish to preserve their monthly lease payments and are interested in maintaining the status quo of not reclaiming the well sites.

The cumulative annual abandonment statistics published by the Energy Resources Conservation Board indicates 46,945 well sites sit abandoned as of July 2009. Of those, 2,789 were abandoned in the previous year.

The length of time that the other 44,156 wells have been in their abandoned state was not readily available. The cost of reclaiming and remediating these sites is difficult to estimate. But as time goes on, these expenses are likely to increase. The level of contamination at some sites, particularly older ones that used earthen pits and ponds for storing produced liquids, may require significant cleanup.

These abandoned sites contribute to the cumulative environmental effects on the Alberta landscape, by retaining the broad footprint of the wells and related facilities and facilitating ongoing access to areas that would otherwise be difficult to access. How is the province to tackle cumulative effects if the environmental impacts of the past are not addressed in a systematic and timely fashion?

Addressing these accumulated impacts quickly has not garnered attention in terms of altering policies and laws. This is, in large part, due to there being limited appetite for timely reclamation of sites among many landowners and operators. Depending on the environmental condition and reclamation requirements of the lease, this delay may suit many companies just fine, as it defers significant costs for reclamation.

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