Odorous Wheatley well to be addressed this week

CTV News

a day ago

Chatham-Kent police seen on scene of a gas odour investigation in Wheatley, Ont. on June 26, 2025. (Travis Fortnum/CTV News Windsor)
Work to address an old water well that prompted an evacuation in Wheatley last month is expected to begin this week.
In a virtual community meeting held on Saturday morning, Chatham-Kent municipal and fire officials provided an update to residents before fielding questions.
Following odour complaints in late June, officials discovered water and gas emerging from the ground behind the local library branch.
'When that was found, after kind of all the big brouhaha ended, diversion equipment was installed behind the library to manage that flow and make it safer for people to work around it,' said Theresa Watson, president of T.L. Watson and Associates.
Watson, who has served as an advisor to the municipality, told residents that crews have worked to divert the flow to the nearby monitoring well on Elm Street, where the hydrogen sulphide has been removed.
Wheatley gas odour investigation July 2025
Monitoring continues at the Wheatley library where residents could smell gas. The site seen in Wheatley, Ont. on July 2, 2025. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)
According to Watson, they determined there was no public safety risk during the June evacuation.
'People acted with caution to make sure everybody was safe, and now we're monitoring constantly behind the library, and we have no further detectable H2S,' she said.
Through research, officials determined the site is consistent with a historic water well that caused an explosion in 1934.
'So we're quite confident that the cause of this emission is this old water well,' Watson added.
Equipment will be moved onto the site and 'mobilized 'on Monday, before crews begin working to excavate and locate the well on Tuesday.
'Once we find the water well, we will extend it to surface in order to properly abandon it. Now, the monitoring well at Elm Street will continue to be used to divert flow throughout the operation,' said Watson.
Because the flow will be diverted to the monitoring well, Watson noted they do not expect a strong odour.
In the 'unlikely' event an emergency occurs, Watson said there are response plans in place.
'We know that the monitoring well and the library are hydraulically connected, and so when we abandoned the library well, the monitoring well will stay open now, we will not be abandoning it, and we won't be shutting it in again,' Watson said.
Barring any difficulties, Watson estimated they will be working at the site for about seven to 10 days.
The meeting was considered last-minute and done virtually to ensure residents were informed before work begins. A similar meeting will be held in person next week at the Wheatley Resource Centre.