Are you an Albertan landowner concerned the non-producing well on your property was never cleaned up? This post is for you! Landowners in Alberta can nominate a well for closure if:

  • (a) the well has been inactive or abandoned for at least five years, and
  • (b) the well is on your private land

It’s an easy and straightforward process, so don’t delay filing.

Landowners can submit a closure request using the Closure Nomination Form on the Alberta Energy Regulator’s (AER’s) website. You will need to provide the site’s legal land description (its legal subdivision, section, township, range, and meridian – which you can lookup here) and one other way to identify the site (such as a license number). You will also need to fill in your contact information and answer less than ten basic questions about the site.

When you certify your information is correct, don’t let the words ‘eligible requester’ throw you off – landowners are ‘eligible requesters’ when an inactive or abandoned well has been on their private land for at least five years. After you submit this short form, your job is done!  Yay!  The operator and the AER will take it from there. You can check the Closure Nomination Dashboard for closure plans, activities, and to check an operator’s progress.

According to the AER, people can expect to hear whether their request was accepted within 10 business days. Make sure to get started on that application sooner rather than later!  Returning your land to its previous condition takes a long time. It typically takes 10-13 years to complete closure work.

Wells are not eligible if a reclamation certificate is granted, pending, or if a well is reclamation exempt (meaning the well was abandoned before 1978, or in some areas, 1963). You can use the Closure Nomination Eligibility Look-Up to check if the well on your property is eligible. You will need at least the township, range, and meridian of the site to use the Look-Up Tool.

Click here for a handout from the AER that explains the closure nomination process.

*Please note: This post is not legal advice. The above materials were reproduced for educational purposes. This post was not made in affiliation with or with endorsement by the AER or the Government of Alberta. Reliance upon Ecojustice’s use of these materials is at the risk of the end user.