Natural gas well owners still don't trust government

Thursday, May 19, 2011

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

Back in 1997 when the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Act was enacted, private gas well owners had a full year to come forward and the government would automatically issue a licence. Many of them didn’t know about the regulation and the opportunity to get a licence and others simply didn’t trust the Mike Harris government of the day with information about their wells.

Now, the current Ontario government is proposing a new approach to the licensing of existing private natural gas wells but there is still a trust issue as owners consider having their say during the 45-day comment period which ends June 10. Fortunately, they have a voice through the Private Natural Gas Well Association (PNGWA) which was formed in 2007 to deal with issues around belated enforcement of the 1997 Act.

At first, because so few people and even groups such as farm organizations knew about the Act, the government decided not to enforce it. That allowed people to continue to operate and maintain natural gas wells even if they weren’t licensed. However, in 2006 because of concerns raised in the wake of the Walkerton water well tragedy of 2000, the government started enforcing the Act. If you had an unlicensed well, you could be fined, and if you supplied maintenance services to the owner of such a well, you could be fined too. The upshot is that unlicensed wells continue to operate but they are less safe because they are not being professionally serviced.

Wells that fall into the unlicensed category are wells that are not commercial — they have to be licensed — and wells dug between 1960 and 1997 that did not get a  permit. The number of unlicensed wells is a mystery because the PNGWA does not keep a membership list. Pat Mousseau, PNGWA secretary, said such a list could be subpoenaed and give inspectors the locations of those wells.  The PNGWA executive is made up of licensed well owners and the organization is supported by a number of other groups including the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, the Haldimand Federation of Agriculture, OMAFRA, the drilling industry and the Canadian Drill Rig Museum in Rainham Centre. The PNGWA has already met with the Ministry of Natural Resources to comment on some of the issues that have so far been raised.

One of the concerns is with the proposed minimum distance from lot lines, set at 30 metres.

“The classic unlicensed well is one that has been drilled quite some time ago and they have been drilled quite close to property lines,” Mousseau said. The proposed policy gives owners with wells too close to property lines the option of hiring a consulting engineer to suggest design changes but that option is potentially costly.

Retired farmers who have severed a retirement lot and continued to use natural gas from a well on the farm which they formerly owned is another issue.

“There was a written agreement and that was sanctioned by a lawyer and the real estate agent handling the transaction and there are quite a few of those around the countryside and there is no provision (in the proposal) to recognize that,” Mousseau said.

While June 10 ends the comment period, the Ministry of Natural Resources people meeting with the PNGWA could not say when the legislation would be finalized or enacted because the upcoming election in October is expected to occupy legislators from now until then. BF