State of emergency extended in B.C.
British Columbia’s provincial state of emergency has been extended another two weeks, to May 26.
The original declaration was made March 18.
Premier John Horgan said the province is looking to restart the economy, but can’t forget about the challenges ahead.
“Because of our determination and sacrifices over the past months, we’re now in a position to carefully move toward the next chapter in our response to COVID-19, but we must not lose sight of the challenges that are ahead,” said Horgan. “At each and every step forward, your government will continue in its commitment to keep our communities safe and support people through this difficult time.”
Government recently announced B.C.’s Restart Plan, laying out a series of steps and principles to protect people and help the province bounce back from the pandemic.
“As we look forward to increasing our social and economic activity in B.C., we must remember that the fight against COVID-19 is far from over,” said Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth. “Our province continues to be in a state of emergency, and we will continue in our co-ordinated response to keep people safe, support our health-care system and ensure our supply chains are secure.”
The provincial government can extend the period of a declaration made by the minister responsible for further periods of time for 14 days at a time.
During the 2017 wildfire season, the province was in a provincial state of emergency for 10 weeks from July 7 to Sept. 15.
Earlier Wednesday, the province announced support for B.C. workers at oil and gas service companies to clean up the environment and help restart the economy.
“With the support of the federal government, B.C. is taking action to accelerate the restoration of more than 2,000 orphan and inactive wells,” said Premier John Horgan. “This program will support upwards of 1,200 jobs, helping B.C. workers, the environment and our economy during these challenging times.”
On April 17, the Government of Canada announced $120 million for B.C. to support cleaning up oil and gas sites. Subject to reaching final agreement with Canada, the Province intends to invest this funding in three new programs:
* The Dormant Sites Reclamation Program will provide $100 million to reclaim dormant oil and gas sites, which are wells that have been inactive for five consecutive years and are unlikely to be returned to service. This program will provide up to $100,000, or 50% of total costs, whichever is less.
* The Orphan Sites Supplemental Reclamation Program will provide $15 million to reclaim orphan oil and gas sites where the operator is insolvent, no longer exists or cannot be located. This program will be administrated by the BC Oil and Gas Commission (BCOGC) and will be in addition to $27 million in planned BCOGC clean up of such wells for 2020-21.
* The Legacy Sites Reclamation Program will provide $5 million to address the legacy impacts of historical oil and gas activities that continue to have environmental impacts, such as on wildlife habitat or on the traditional use by Indigenous peoples.
These programs will be open to oil and gas field service companies and contractors based in B.C., with registration, office and operations in B.C.
“Through these three programs, we are accelerating the cleanup of thousands of orphan and inactive wells,” said Bruce Ralston, B.C.’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources. “This allows us to restore lands of important environmental and cultural relevance, while also supporting local jobs and local economies in B.C.’s northeast.”