B.C. Premier John Horgan says the provincial state of emergency will continue for another two weeks.
"We renewed our state emergency. We did so to keep people healthy, and safe. It will remain in place for the foreseeable future and we will renew it every two weeks," he said this afternoon (May 13) as, on paper, the next extension ends on May 27.
"COVID-19 is still here."
BREAKING: @jjhorgan extends B.C.'s COVID-19 state of emergency an additional 2 weeks to May 27, but adds this will be in place for the foreseeable future. | #CityOfPG #bcpoli @PGMatters pic.twitter.com/iFj5Zwxrw3
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) May 13, 2020
The B.C. government will also plow $120 million in federal funding into a program to accelerate the reclamation of thousands of dormant and orphan oil and gas wells in the province.
B.C. already has a dormant and orphan well reclamation plan, but the federal government announced in April that it will fund well reclamation to the tune of $120 million.
The accelerated program will create 1,200 jobs, the B.C. government said today. Only B.C. contractors will be eligible for funding.
A little over a year ago, the BC Oil and Gas Commission introduced a new levy on the oil and gas industry to raise $15 million a year for dormant well reclamation. The plan was to reclaim all orphan wells in B.C. over the next 10 years.
That will be accelerated with the federal funding. The bulk of the $120 million in federal funding will be used to accelerate the reclamation process, with $100 million earmarked for dormant wells owned by companies that are still solvent.
Another $15 million will go to orphan wells. Those are wells that were owned by companies that are insolvent. Another $5 million in funding to address things like habitat restoration.
there are more than 7,000 dormant wells in B.C., 357 of which are orphan wells.
When an oil or gas well runs dry, it typically is decommissioned. This involves filling the well bore with cement, cutting off the steel well bore a few feet below ground, and then covering it up.
Full reclamation is more extensive. It requires removing all infrastructure that may have been left behind, including piping and wellheads. Soil sampling must be done, and any contaminated soils must be removed and replaced with clean soil.
Finally, the area is replanted with trees. In some cases, access roads must also be decommissioned and restored to a natural state.
- with files from Nelson Bennett, Business In Vancouver, and Dawson Creek Mirror
