Drilling Completed on One of Two Monitoring Wells

Contractors completed drilling on the monitoring well near APEC 2 without incident Monday and will be drilling the second monitoring well this week.

Work on that well was halted for a short time Sunday when a pocket of gas was discovered. The gas emission lasted 15 minutes, safety protocols in place were initiated and work resumed when it was safe to do so. Officials say the emission isn’t uncommon in such drilling.

Drilling of a second monitoring well near the Wheatley arena will be completed by the end of this week. Residents are asked to stay behind barricades erected near the site. Anyone with questions can call 3-1-1.

Equipment for re-drilling the Tait well at APEC 2 in the municipal parking lot is expected to arrive on site this week. Information gathered from this work as well as a sampling of regional gas wells for comparison with on-site samples should provide more information for investigators.

Municipal officials note that rumours regarding further demolition of buildings in the area are inaccurate.

As part of the investigation, a few severely damaged buildings were required to be removed. However, no decisions have been made with regard to the demolition of any other buildings within the evacuation zone.