"Federal COVID-19 relief funds will aid in the clean up of dormant and orphan oil and gas sites in northern B.C., creating 1,200 jobs, but observers say the bad habit of leaving industry environmental liabilities to the taxpayer needs to end"
"Calling orphan and inactive oil and gas wells “an environmental stain on British Columbia,” Premier John Horgan announced on Wednesday a plan to clean-up more than 2,000 wells and create 1,200 jobs in northern B.C.
Funding for B.C.’s plan will come from the federal government, which in April announced it will spend $1.7 billion to clean up orphan and inactive wells in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.
Alberta received the lion’s share of the funding — $1.2 billion — while $400 million was designated for Saskatchewan and $120 million for B.C.
Horgan said the federal funding will help B.C. decommission, reclaim or restore oil and gas well sites, noting that B.C.’s Auditor General has repeatedly called on the oil and gas industry and the province “to clean up its act.”"
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