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Cheryl Oates, spokeswoman for the premier, said Monday in an e-mail that the government shares concerns about abandoned wells but continues to believe industry should pay to remediate them.

“However, the federal government could help clean up the environment and put people back to work by funding cleanup of those wells that have been abandoned for years,” she said.

PSAC says there are 75,000 inactive wells in the province requiring downhole wellbore abandonment and surface reclamation. The cleanup could cost as much as $82 billion but current industry cash flow for 2016 is estimated at $26.5 billion, it stated.

“While we absolutely agree well decommissioning is the responsibility of the licensee, (generally exploration and production companies), economic circumstances and steadily increasing costs due to ever-improving regulations are causing this work to be delayed or postponed and regular activity has almost come to a standstill,” Salkeld said in the release.

“Well decommissioning will help keep the expertise and intellectual capital that we have worked so hard to find and develop in Alberta so we’re prepared when the turnaround comes.”

The Alberta Energy Regulator lists 66,500 wells as “abandoned” and another 76,500 “inactive” under its Licensee Liability Rating system.

The Orphan Well Association in Alberta lists more than 700 wells without an owner financially capable of the remediation work.

PSAC was one of the 15 business groups to sign a letter to Premier Rachel Notley last week requesting direct talks to try to head off the province’s “dire” economic outlook and 21-year high jobless rate.

The alliance conceded low oil prices are beyond the government’s control, but argued NDP initiatives including higher corporate and personal taxes, a planned carbon tax and hikes to the minimum wage are compounding the misery.

dhealing@calgaryherald.com

Twitter.com/HealingSlowly