Oil wells are a prime example of a stranded asset.
Stephen Legault, Senior Manager, Alberta Energy Transition response to a report made public in the Globe and Mail concerning a government report that proposes the Alberta public must now assume responsibility for cleaning up “mature” oil and gas wells across the province
Canmore | Traditional territories of the Treaty 7 Nations – Secretive plans reveal a strategy more damaging to Alberta than the R-Star controversy championed by Premier Danielle Smith when she worked for the oil and gas industry before becoming Premier.
A secretive group of insiders led by David Yagger, an advisor to both oil and gas businesses and the Premier, is recommending a transfer of reclamation responsibilities to taxpayers, instead of the industry, who are currently making billions in profits. This is deeply disturbing. The public should not have to be on the hook to clean up the industry’s mess.
How can Albertans trust the Premier to make decisions in the best interest of the province when she is handing responsibility for the industry over to the industry itself?
The premier must fire David Yager right now, and come clean with Albertans. The government must toss this report and its ideas in the trash, and hold polluters accountable to clean up after themselves, and to pay their rent and taxes.
Not only would these recommendations to the Premier and her Cabinet put the fox among the hens, but it would rob the farmer from any meaningful recourse.
Background:
- A leaked copy of the Mature Asset Strategy (MAS) recommends a seachange in how the province manages the required clean up after oil and gas wells have been retired.
- At present there are currently more than 80,000 aging wells, and more than 100,000 well sites and other petroleum industry assets that are no longer producing. These sites are a hazard to human, wildlife and livestock heath, as many leak poisonous methane gas that contributes to global climate change.
- In addition the MAS recommendations include a wide range of oil and gas industry wish list items, including turning a blind eye to the unpaid taxes, green-washing unreclaimed hazardous sites with solar panels, and creating a Joint Industry Closure Initiative would would which would place the industry in charge of setting regulations for their own operations.
ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE (environmentaldefence.ca): Environmental Defence is a leading Canadian environmental advocacy organization that works with government, industry and individuals to defend clean water, a safe climate and healthy communities.
– 30 –
For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Alex Ross, Environmental Defence, media@environmentaldefence.ca
