Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources visited Essex County to announce additional funding to protect communities from old and inactive oil and gas wells.
The ministry has committed $10.8 million annually to help municipal ties plug more wells, buy specialized equipment, train emergency staff and conduct research.
According to the most recent counts, there are around 27,000 old and inactive oil and gas wells throughout Ontario. Many have already been plugged but many others have likely not been identified.
"We don't want to scare anybody, there's no imminent danger or anything along those lines, but it is something we are really trying to be proactive with obviously, we saw the situation a few years ago in Wheatley, it was very troubling times for that community," said Minister Mike Harris.
The funding has allowed fire departments in Essex County to purchase specialized equipment and participate in training programs to improve emergency response.
"We're definitely concerned about it so we're in those early stages. We've finally procured the equipment and the training. We're looking now to push further with our planning departments to make sure we know where these wells are, make sure we check them and monitor them and know what kind of situation we could be in," said Amherstburg Fire Chief Michael Mio.
Over the last three years, the region has received $1.2 million for emergency preparedness and equipment to respond to the risks of legacy oil and gas wells.
