orphaned wells

“Come for a coffee, we’ll have it inside,” Norfolk County resident Paula Jongerden says with a laugh. But she’s not joking. She lives about 300 metres from an old oil well that routinely belches foul-smelling odours.

The putrid smell makes Paula Jongerden sick to her stomach. It comes from a natural gas well about 300 metres from her home near Delhi, Ont., that erupts at least twice a week.

Annual methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells might be underestimated by as much as 150 per cent in Canada and 20 per cent in the U.S., according to a recent study from McGill University.

The federal government is rolling out billions of dollars in new financial help targeting hard-hit sectors of the economy, acknowledging that some companies need more support and others are slipping through the safety net of emergency aid meant to help them through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Energy Minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd said during a news conference that the change would have an impact on any operators or oilpatch officials who have a history of going bankrupt and leaving taxpayers with the bill for the cleanup.