Well, here it is: the new, improved News Brief. In this issue we'll have a look at reclaiming well sites, recent changes to environmental law, water as a public resource and ATV management. We'll also take a few moments to celebrate Earth Day, of course.
As always, we love to hear from you, our readers, and hope you'll email your questions, comments and suggestions for content to Leah at [email protected].
Hope you enjoy and Happy Earth Day!
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Regulating well site retirement to benefit the environment Ever wonder what happens to all those well sites after they've been pumped dry? In theory, the operator is responsible for cleanup, but in reality tens of thousands of sites currently sit vacant across Alberta. Why? Because few regulatory tools exist to ensure timely abandonment and reclamation. This lack of tools results in increased risk of environmental damages, including contaminated soil and water, disturbed landscapes and reduced biodiversity.
Seeing a need for regulatory change, ELC Staff Counsel Jason Unger researched and crafted a terrific resource that will provide the expertise and tools for policy makers to take action to improve the landscape. With generous funding from the Alberta Law Foundation, we have just released this resource. Next we will be engaging with stakeholders from industry and government to encourage them to step up and clean up their act.
Click here to read the report. |
