An appeal hearing with the Alberta Energy Regulator to dispute a decision that made CP Rail responsible for liabilities related to an abandoned well at this S. Railway site, seen here in October, has been delayed for procedural issues.--News Photo Collin Gallant
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Work has concluded for the time being on an effort to permanently seal an historic gas well under S. Railway Street in Medicine Hat, but a process to determine who is liable for the well that was leaking methane has been postponed.
An Alberta Energy Regulator hearing had been scheduled for Nov. 24 to consider an appeal by Canadian Pacific Railways to a ruling late last year that it was responsible for the well, known as Medicine Hat 18.
AER officials told the News the delay in proceedings is procedural and now a new date will be set.
The well’s licence number, No. WX0000225, suggests it was drilled in the early 1900s, and its location, in a commercial strip parking lot, would be the approximate location of the CPR Roundhouse that operated until the late 1960s.
This fall a full-sized drilling rig was moved onto the site and through traffic was diverted from the busy route for nearly two months as crews worked.
The well was mentioned in a draft AER report on urban wells in 2015 that stated it was one of several in Medicine Hat leaking amounts of methane at a concerning level.
The City of Medicine Hat’s energy division monitored that well and others with no known owner for a number of decades.
The AER ruled in December 2020 the ultimate liability for the well lay with the Canadian Pacific Railway, which launched an appeal last spring.
Two companies created by the spinout of CP’s energy interests two decades ago, Ovintiv and Cenovus, were also parties registered in the AER hearing this month. The City of Medicine Hat was an interested party.
Neither the city nor companies involved have made a public comment on the issue.
