Ministry of Natural…

Ministry of Natural Resources
Development and Hazard Policy Branch
300 Water Street
Peterborough, ON
K9J 8M5

Thursday, January 9, 2025

Re: ERO Number 019-9286 (Working on wells and associated works without the consent of an operator in limited circumstances to prevent, decrease, or eliminate a hazard to the public or to the environment) written submission on behalf of 360 Engineering and Environmental Consulting Ltd.

Dear Sir/Madam,

On behalf of 360 Engineering and Environmental Consulting Ltd., we appreciate this opportunity to comment on Bill 228, the Resource Management and Safety Act, 2024 and the proposed amendments to the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act which allow the Minister of Natural Resources to protect public safety by taking action to remediate a hazardous well without the operator’s consent.
For background, 360 Engineering is an engineering firm that provides engineering and environmental services related to asset retirement across Canada and the United States in a diverse range of sectors and industries including oil and gas, construction, mining, renewable energy and government. With a team of over 150 multi-disciplinary professionals, we have extensive experience providing a range of services including environmental site assessments, well plugging and abandonment, remediation and reclamation, site specific liability assessments and regulatory, landowner and industry consultations. Our work in Ontario includes assisting in the emergency response, investigation and remediation of the explosion in Wheatley, Ontario caused by an abandoned gas well.
We are supportive of the amendments proposed in Bill 228 and applaud the government for taking steps to strengthen the tools available to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry inspectors to bring hazardous wells into compliance with regulations and standards intended to protect public safety and the environment. As seen in Wheatley, deteriorating oil and gas wells, if left unaddressed can cause significant harm to communities, infrastructure, the natural environment, and ultimately human lives.
Measures to identify, assess and mitigate these risks are paramount.
The measures proposed in Bill 228 are necessary, however, we note that the amendments take a reactive rather than proactive approach by focusing on addressing a hazardous well in situations where an operator is unwilling or unable to address the hazard themselves. Being able to address a potentially dangerous well is extremely important, however a reactionary approach comes with increased costs, and often increased potential liabilities to government, including potential assumed liability under Section 3260 of the Public Sector Accounting Standards.
If the proposed regulations are enacted, the government should give serious consideration to the qualifications and training of those individuals who may be required to perform work on a well, under the Ministry’s new authority, in an emergency. Ministry inspectors and first responders likely do not have the technical expertise required to perform the required work. We strongly recommend that the Ministry develop plans to ensure qualified professionals are available to respond and act as tactical advisors in these situations, and we would be pleased to work with government on developing such a framework.
We applaud the government for these proposed amendments and encourage it to also continue to address the risks posed by unidentified legacy wells.
Ontario has records of approximately 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells, primarily in southwestern Ontario, however these wells likely represent only half of all abandoned wells in the province. These legacy wells, like the one in Wheatly, pose an even greater risk to the public.
Unidentified legacy oil, gas and water wells also pose significant risk to the government and private sector investors developing or redeveloping in high-risk regions. As the government continues to prioritize policy measures to increase residential development and invests in large-scale infrastructure projects like transit, hospitals and highways, understanding where these hazards exist and what risk they might pose is critical. The discovery of abandoned well infrastructure during construction can set project timelines back significantly and cost millions of dollars in mitigation and redesign. Early and precise identification of abandoned infrastructure can save millions of dollars and help government and developers make better decisions about where and how to build.
We strongly urge the government to take further immediate action to identify abandoned well infrastructure across the province, to assess the risk of all abandoned wells, remediate leaking wells, and take action to mitigate risk for wells deemed to be high risk.
We sincerely appreciate the Ministry’s commitment to ensuring legacy wells remain safe and for this opportunity to provide our feedback. We would welcome the opportunity to provide further information based on our experience working with abandoned wells in other jurisdictions to the Ministry or to discuss this submission further.

Sincerely,

Adam Derry, P. Eng
Director of Engineering & Manager of Abandonment and Decommissioning
360 Engineering and Environmental Consulting Ltd.