Abandoned gas well legislation not good enough: Expert [Video]

New provincial legislation introduced to help address hazardous oil and gas wells remains short of what’s needed, according to an expert on the matter.

Changes to the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act give the Ministry of Natural Resources the power to immediately act on hazardous oil and gas wells in specific situations.

“We want to make sure that if there’s an exceptional situation where we have someone, perhaps that’s deceased, as a landowner or a company that has gone bankrupt or is insolvent, that we still have a method to access that well and do the work that needs to be done to keep people safe,” Graydon Smith, Ontario’s Minister of Natural Resources told CTV News.

A news release stated the changes will allow the province to recover the costs of any action taken on the well.

In some cases, Smith said wells are considered “high risk” and require …