Plot thickens in dispute over remediating one of Alberta’s first natural gas wells
By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on July 27, 2021.
https://www.medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews The plot has thickened in a dispute over who is responsible for remediating one of the first natural gas wells drilled in Alberta. The “Medicine Hat No. 18” well has a license number that suggests it was the 215th well drilled in the province, sometime in the very early 1900s, but years after it was closed it is leaking methane along a major thoroughfare in Medicine Hat. A hearing that could determine who is liable is now set to take place on Nov. 24, and will include CP Rail, the City of Medicine Hat, and two successor companies of Pan Canadian Petroleum. The city, which owns its own gas production business, and CP Rail, which had major energy interests until the early 2000s, have not commented on the issue. In late 2020, the Alberta Energy Regulator ruled that Canadian Pacific Railways was responsible for any new work to secure the well, located near South Railway Street in the city. A report on problematic urban wells done for the AER in 2016 stated elevated levels of methane were detected nearby its known location. The City of Medicine Hat was in care of the well and others inside city limits that have no known legal owner, and said in 2016 there is no immediate danger. The CPR appealed that AER decision regarding liability in April. The issue is set to be heard in late fall after submissions from all parties are due between early August and October 21. Pan Canadian was spun out by the railroad in 2002 and eventually merged with Alberta Energy Corporation to create Encana. That company has since been split up to create Cenovus Energy and Ovintiv, which are both listed as parties in a hearing notice posted this week by the AER. 12-11
