Alberta wellsite reclamation efforts slow to take shape
More than 40,000 wells sit abandoned as of July 2009
Landowners who want timely abandonment and reclamation have few legal means to force this to occur. For well sites on public (Crown) land, there appear to be few barriers to timely reclamation, other than operator resistance to having enforceable timelines.
Placing timelines on reclamation is not a novel concept. Several jurisdictions have placed regulatory time limits to recover or reclaim specific lands. Colorado, for instance, requires removal of surface equipment within three months of plugging a well. On crop land, well sites, access roads and associated production, facilities must be “closed, graded and recontoured” within three months. The same must occur for non-crop land within 12 months. Disturbed areas that are no longer in production must be reseeded in the first favorable season. Extensions may be granted where there are extenuating circumstances.
Pennsylvania requires an owner or operator to “remove all production or storage facilities, supplies and equipment and restore the well site” within nine months after plugging a well. Pennsylvania is also pursuing a plan to force the abandonment of hazardous wells that are suspended unless operators take the initiative by taking steps to put problem wells back into production.
As the Alberta government seeks to manage the cumulative effects of development, timely reclamation of well sites and related facilities should be at the top of the list. Pursuing reclamation and remediation in a timely fashion reflects good public policy to manage and minimize public liabilities related to these sites. Quickly restoring land to other beneficial uses makes economic sense and minimizes future liabilities falling to the public purse. In addition, timely reclamation will keep Albertans working, a goal espoused by the minister of energy in announcing an additional $30 million of public money for reclamation earlier this year.
Jason Unger is staff council with the Environmental Law Centre, a registered charitable organization established in 1982 to provide Albertans with objective information about environmental and natural resources law and policy. Its vision is a clean, healthy and diverse environment protected through informed citizen participation and sound law and policy, effectively applied.
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