Wheatley explosion could be 'tip of the iceberg' in Ontario given number of abandoned wells: expert

An explosion in Wheatley, Ont.,believed to be caused by an abandoned gas wellis the extreme example of what can happen if suchwells are not properly plugged,according to an expert hydrogeologist who has researched oil and gas wells in southwestern Ontario.

"It can happen anywhere in southwestern Ontario," said Dick Jackson, an adjunct professor at the University of Waterloo, who last year gave a presentation at a national geological convention about the dangers of the province's abandoned wells.

Seven people were sent to hospital and two buildings were destroyedinWheatleywhenan explosion rocked the downtown corelast Thursday,just over an hour after high readings of hydrogen sulphide were recorded.

The townof 3,000, locatedabout 65 kilometres southeast of Windsor, Ont., had experienced three previous gas leaks in the area in recent months.

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Darrin Canniff told CBC News that he's hoping the Ontario government 'steps up.'

Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff pleaded for the Ontario government to "step up" and take the lead on the investigation in the days following the explosion.

CBChas made several calls and email requests for an interviewwith Greg Rickford, minister of northern development, mines, natural resources and forestry. On Wednesday,hispress secretary would only say in an email that,"the minister is unavailable for an interview today. I will keep you apprised of new information as it becomes available."

CBC News spoke with Jackson to get a sense of how many abandoned wells there are in the province and what kind of risk they might pose for other communities.

How many abandoned gas and oil wells are in Ontario?

"In Ontario, the province knows within 200 metres where 27,000 of these oil and gas wells are. About 3,000 are active, the other 24,000 are abandoned," said Jackson. "There are about 3,000 where we probably don't know where they are."

He found three recorded wells in Wheatley through the Oil, Gas and Salt Resources Library, which collects and publicly posts details ofwells in Ontario using provincial records.

"But theirlocation wasn't known within an area of 200 metres. Very uncertain. Clearly the town got built after these wells got built," he said.

The recorded wells include:

• An abandonedprivate gas well marked at Talbot Road Eastand Erie Street North,which records show was drilled in 1896 and plugged in 1965.
• An abandonedprivate gas well marked between Chestnut Streetand Moor Street, which records show was drilled in 1897 andplugged in 1965.
• A private gas well marked near Little Street North and Elm Street, which does not include any details about its operating status or when it was drilled.

A fourth well sits just outside Wheatley's core:

• An abandoned natural gas well marked near Julian Streetand Eastman Avenue, which records show was plugged in 2015 but there were no details on when it was drilled.

How are these wells plugged?

Anyone can access information on known wells through the Ontario Oil, Gas and Salt Resource Library.

The well thatrecords estimate is closest to the Wheatley blast site,at Talbot Road East and Erie Street North, was plugged with cement and gravel, according to records.

Jackson said plugging practices were "very primitive" before the 1970s.

"It was a poorly understood technology. They would put tree trunks down them. Cement.Gravel. And they would pound lead in," said Jackson.

"Once we plug and abandon these wells, we figure they're not going to leak. But some of them will. No question about that."

Why are leaks so hardto find?

Jackson said the issue is twofold: eroding wellcasingsand cement plugs create opportunities for the sitesto leak, and the removal of those casings for other projects makes the siteshard to find.

"You're getting breakthrough of this deep gas coming from these depleted oil fields," said Jackson.

He said even though anoil reservoir might have been depleted through decades of pumping, it will slowly re-pressurize over time.

Finding these wells has become difficult, he said, because it was popular practice to remove the top sections of the casings in order to repurpose them for ships during the Second World War.

Removing the surface casing makes it extremely difficult to detect the abandoned wells.

"There's no magnetic signal that your geophysicistcan hit. Then trying to re-plug them becomes horrendously expensive," said Jackson.

"The problem in a town like Wheatley is you got so much steel around the town in piping that the geophysicist isn't going to be able to figure out what's an old abandoned oil well and what's a new piece of steel piping going to a gas station."

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Where does the toxic gas come from?

The deteriorationof the wellcasings openup pathways for methane gas trapped below the surfaceto mix with gypsum rock, creating the toxic and sometimes-deadly hydrogen sulphide gas.

"If you drilled 100 years ago, by now, those casings are rotted out. You're getting gas moving up from the basin," said Jackson.

Methane dissolves the gypsum, releasing sulphate, which the methane then reduces into hydrogen sulphide.

"It's like a big chemical reactor," said Jackson.

Who is responsible for these abandoned wells?

The Ministry of Natural Resources is responsible for Ontario's abandoned wells, but according to Jackson,the province is in no position to do the plugging work with speed.

"Under something called the abandoned works program, if you can satisfy the criteria of the abandoned works program and you float to the top of their hazardous criteria list, you will get your well plugged," said Jackson.

"But don't hold your breath."

Expert says provincial ministry responsible for abandoned wells 'depleted'

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Professor Dick Jackson said that the ministry of natural resources in Ontario is responsible for abandoned gas wells.

He said the ministry has a duty of care when it comes to abandoned wells in Ontario.

"They are depleted in expertise and they are depleted in funding, I believe," said Jackson, noting the most experienced people have retired in the last decade.

"I don't think the Ford government has really put a lot of money in the abandoned works program."

Jackson added, however, that funding is important because what happened in Wheatley could be the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to issues with abandoned wells.

Costs of plugging up a well difficult to predict

Plugging abandoned wells is difficult, Jackson said, because of the toxic chemicals that can be found after years of neglect.

He recently asked a group that works in the industryfor an estimate to plug an abandoned well for a project he's consulting on."I got numbers from $30,000 to $200,000 per well.We just don't know [the scale]," said Jackson.

Jackson said the work in Wheatley is "not going to be cheap."

"They're going to spend a million or two by the time they've found that well and essentially plugged it and figured out what they're going to do to prevent any of these other wells around Wheatley from leaking," he said.

"It's an enormous job. It's a legacy problem."