New provincial regulations coming into effect on Nov. 1 will require landowners with abandoned oil wells on their property to meet new regulatory requirements as part of future subdivision and development applications, the Mountain View County Municipal Planning Commission heard during its Oct. 18 meeting.ERCB Directive 079: Subsurface Development in Proximity to Abandoned Wells sets out detailed requirements for accommodating abandoned wells during subdivision and development projects.The directive specifies that development on top of an abandoned well will not be permitted and a minimum setback of a five-metre radius around the well must be maintained.New subdivision applications, except for lot line adjustments, will now need to include documentation from the ERCB identifying the presence or absence of abandoned wells.Such documentation will have to be obtained through the ERCB's database website.The new regulations also require new development permits for buildings larger than 47 square metres and for additions to buildings that will as a result become larger than 47 square metres to include documentation from the ERCB with the application identifying the presence or absence of abandoned wells.During last week's MPC meeting, John Rustling, the county's director of planning and development services, said the county will work with landowners to ensure the new regulations are followed.“We will certainly work with them and help them,” said Rustling. “If they don't have computer access we will work with them. The regulations are clear that the applicant has to provide this information.“We will work with the public on this, but I want to make sure this is part of the information package that the landowner has to submit to us. If there are issues with familiarity with the computer and the Internet and that kind of thing, I am certainly willing to have staff work with landowners and we will get them on the ERCB database.“Some of these wells may have been abandoned a long time ago and the companies sold so there will be some challenges in making this operative. We will certainly do the best job that we can in helping the public through this process.”Under the new regulations, municipal subdivision or development authorities evaluating development permits and subdivision applications must ensure that the regulations' provisions are applied prior to issuing approvals.“These are mandatory requirements and everything that we do has to conform with the subdivision and development regulations,” he said. “There is a public safety component in this and that is why it is coming into effect.“I've also heard questions about, is this going to force development permits for everything including farm buildings and things that we don't require now. I certainly talked that over with legal counsel and the answer is no.”Rustling said he will be updating county council on the new regulations at this week's policies and priorities meeting.
