Who should pay to clean up oil and gas wells in Alberta?
The problem
What's happening with aging wells?
Executives are walking away from their companies' legal cleanup obligations, leaving a toxic legacy across rural Alberta that threatens our land, water, and communities.
300,000 wells
Hundreds of thousands of aging wells, pipelines, and storage tanks are sitting on farms, ranches, and in urban areas across our province.
Leaking toxic waste
Aging wells leak toxins into the air, soil, and groundwater, threatening the health of farms, drinking water, and livestock.
Billions to clean up
The Alberta government and industry CEOs want to saddle everyday Albertans with the clean up costs.
"No More Drill and Dash"
Despite strong corporate profits, the oil and gas industry isn't setting aside money for the cleanup of 300,000 unreclaimed wells across the province. Companies are also increasingly skipping out on municipal taxes, with over $250M in unpaid bills in 2024, leading to service cuts across our communities.
Instead of forcing the industry to pay up, the government is pushing a new plan that puts taxpayers on the hook for well cleanup costs. The so-called "Mature Asset Strategy" (MAS), would let industry abandon its cleanup responsibilities, with the public picking up the tab.
Government revenues should go towards schools, hospitals, and things people need, not a bailout for companies that broke their promises. We must Stop the Scam and Stop the Alberta Government's MAS.
THE PROBLEM EXPLAINED
Alberta's multi-billion dollar well scam
If you make a mess, you clean it up: this "Polluter Pay" principle is a core tenet of Canadian law. When it comes to aging oil and gas wells, companies are required by law to return the land they're on to its pre-drilling state. Estimates for the cost to clean up Alberta's 300,000 unreclaimed wells are in the tens of billions of dollars – and that doesn't even include the facilities that support them, or the 433,000+ kilometres of pipelines that connect them.
But is the oil and gas industry saving for this massive bill? While parts of the industry remain massively profitable in Alberta, alarm bells are ringing in the traditional drilling sector. From unpaid municipal taxes and landowner compensation, to growing requests for grants, loans, and delayed repayments, these public handouts reveal a growing risk that companies won't willingly fulfill their cleanup obligations.
Now, the provincial government is floating a new, industry-drafted plan to put taxpayers on the hook for well cleanup: the so-called "Mature Asset Strategy." Albertans are saying: enough is enough. It's time to Stop the Scam.
HOW IT WORKS
A corporate shell game to dump a massive cleanup bill on taxpayers
The Alberta government's proposed giveaway to the oil industry - the Mature Asset Strategy - isn't an accident. It's a deliberate plan to transfer cleanup costs from a profitable sector to Alberta taxpayers and rural communities.
Keep reading
Get the full story of how this scam works and who's paying the price.