Public money needed to aid energy cleanup, minister says

Less than a quarter of province's half-million energy wells are reclaimed

- BOB WEBER

Alberta's energy minister is promising strong action by next fall to clean up the province's growing backlog of unreclaimed oil and gas sites.

"There are many oil wells to reclaim and the current system is unlikely to see them reclaimed," Brian Jean said.

But Jean said industry might need help from public finances to live up to its legal obligations, as well as lower municipal tax burdens and a lighter regulatory approach.

"I don't like sticks, I like carrots," Jean said. "Without changes to how we approach fixed costs and we approach financing well closure, we won't make the required progress. We need to find new ways to do liability financing, and we need to change the approach on municipal taxes."