Province funds local communities to protect against idle oil, gas wells

Ontario Natural Resources Minister Mike Harris was in Paris, Ont., Tuesday to announce $4 million in funding aimed at protecting communities from legacy oil and gas wells.

The province selected nine municipalities in southwestern Ontario to send the funding to. Among them are Brant County, Niagara Region, Norfolk County and Haldimand County.

Brant County is receiving $185,000 to help fund a hazardous gas detection, inflatable emergency shelter and additional specialized detectors.

This is part of a larger investment of $23.6 million by the Ford government in its Legacy Oil and Gas Wells Action Plan.

According to a release from the provincial government, Ontario has around 27,000 oil and gas wells which are primarily on private property in southwestern Ontario.

So far, the province has funded the plugging of 454 wells across Ontario through the Abandoned Works Program.

The goal is to have all of these wells plugged so they cannot cause damage to the environment or become a risk to public safety.

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