Alberta wants unused funding spent cleaning up more orphaned wells [Video]

First Nations chiefs and the Alberta government are asking for $137 million in unused federal funding to be allocated to continue work to clean up inactive oil and gas sites.

The unused funding is part of the Site Rehabilitation Program, which provides grants to oil field service contractors for well, pipeline, and oil and gas site closure and reclamation work. The federal government allocated $1 billion to Alberta as part of the program, with $133.3 million dedicated to cleanup in Indigenous communities.

“This program has not only played a pivotal role in revitalizing our lands, but has also created opportunities for Indigenous contractors and First Nations across the region,” said Chief Cody Thomas of Enoch Cree Nation.

“With 36 Indigenous-led contractors and over 550 subcontractors contributing their skills and expertise to the restoration of our lands across the province.”

Since work began in 2020, closure work was completed on 1,824 …