On April 17th, 2020, Canada’s Prime Minister announced over $1.7 Billion in available funding to support inactive and orphan site closure within the oil and gas industry as part of it’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. Following the federal funding release, Alberta’s provincial government announced the implementation of the Site Rehabilitation Program on April 24th, 2020.
The primary goals and intentions of Alberta’s Site Rehabilitation Program are to:
- Immediately get Alberta’s specialized oil and gas labour force back to work;
- Accelerate site abandonment and reclamation efforts; and
- Quickly complete a high volume of environmentally-significant work.
Details regarding Alberta’s Site Rehabilitation Program (including available grant funding, eligibility requirements, and the application process) can be found through the link below which will be updated regularly by the Alberta government: https://www.alberta.ca/site-rehabilitation-program.aspx
Some of the key eligibility and program requirements include:
- Oil and Gas sites must be located in Alberta, putting Albertan’s to work.
- Available grant funding between 25-100% of project costs to a maximum of $30K per site.
- Eligible services currently include:
- Wellsite abandonment
- Pipeline abandonment
- Pipeline segment removal
- Facility abandonment
- Phase 1 and Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessments
- Site Remediation
- Site Reclamation
- A valid and executable contract with a producer/licensee must be obtained prior to application.
- All work must be completed by skilled contractors that possess the necessary expertise, capacity, and equipment to perform the work. Verification of the work by an applicable professional may be required to receive full grant payment.
- Applications for the first round of available funding ($100 Million) can be made May 1st, 2020.
- Additional rounds of available funding will become available as the program is developed.
In the coming days and weeks there will be more questions arising from the implementation and execution of Alberta’s Site Rehabilitation Program. However, what is not in question is North Shore Environmental Consultants ability to deliver the desired results of the program’s goals.
Since 2002, North Shore has been focused on site remediation and reclamation activities within Alberta’s oil and gas energy sector. Throughout the last 18 years, we have established ourselves as the industry leader in efficient high volume site closure activities throughout the province. With our unparalleled experience, operational agility, and extensive network of professionals and subcontractors throughout key areas of the province, we are best positioned to quickly complete high volumes of environmentally significant work that benefits our clients, landowners, service providers, and the province of Alberta as a whole.
North Shore will continue to be a leading authority in oil and gas site closure activities in Alberta and is positioned to maximize all benefits and opportunities through Alberta’s Site Rehabilitation Program when the application process is initiated on May 1st, 2020.
For additional information on how to work with North Shore as either an eligible producer/licensee, or as an applicable service provider, please contact us either by phone or the email below.
Contact – ABSiteRehabProgram@northshoreenv.com
Government Link – Alberta Site Rehabilitation Program
