School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada.
Environ Monit Assess. 2019 Sep 5;191(10):611. doi: 10.1007/s10661-019-7780-x.
Alberta has extensive non-renewable energy resources which contribute to the Canadian economy. A downturn in oil and gas energy prices in 2014 contributed to increased idle and orphaned wells, posing potential environmental and human health risks, as well as an economic burden on the province of Alberta. Idle and orphaned wells contribute to local adverse environmental and human health effects from soil and groundwater contamination to greenhouse gas emissions. With increasing numbers of idle and orphaned wells, current monitoring measures, including regulation and cost to identify well leakage, are insufficient. Current policy measures to manage idle and orphaned well environmental liabilities were found to be inadequate to cover cleanup costs. With oil and gas prices showing no signs of rebound, these idle and orphaned well liabilities need to be addressed. This paper discusses potential environmental risks that idle and orphaned oil and gas wells pose, compares Alberta's current monitoring and policy initiatives to those in other provinces as well as the USA, and recommends future management strategies to mitigate the issue.
艾伯塔省拥有丰富的不可再生能源，为加拿大经济做出了贡献。2014 年石油和天然气能源价格下跌导致闲置和废弃油井增加，从而带来了潜在的环境和人类健康风险，以及艾伯塔省的经济负担。闲置和废弃油井导致土壤和地下水污染到温室气体排放等局部环境和人类健康受到负面影响。随着闲置和废弃油井数量的增加，目前的监测措施（包括监管和确定井泄漏的成本）已经不足。发现现有的管理闲置和废弃油井环境责任的政策措施不足以支付清理费用。由于石油和天然气价格没有显示出反弹迹象，因此需要解决这些闲置和废弃油井的负债问题。本文讨论了闲置和废弃的油气井带来的潜在环境风险，比较了艾伯塔省目前的监测和政策举措与其他省份以及美国的情况，并为缓解这一问题提出了未来的管理策略。
