Latest news with #gasodour
CTV News
26-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
Odorous Wheatley well to be addressed this week
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.
CTV News
02-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
Crews continue monitoring gas odour in Wheatley as residents remain on edge
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) Emergency crews continue to monitor a gas odour first reported outside the Wheatley library on Canada Day, as concern lingers in the community and experts warn the issue may be part of a much larger, long-term challenge. Chatham-Kent Fire Chief Chris Case said local emergency officials were acting on a call made after someone reported the smell of gas near the Talbot Street branch. 'This was exactly what we were asking for,' said Case. 'We asked people if they smelled gas or if there were any issues, they should call us. And that's exactly what they did.' Officials say no gas is currently being detected in the area. However, monitoring and investigation efforts continue at the site — just a few blocks from the location of a devastating explosion in 2021 that injured 20 people and levelled buildings. 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) 'We still have firefighters and engineers who are visiting not just this site, but the original site of the explosion,' said Case. 'Those sites get visited once or twice a day just to check that everything's working, and to check that we don't have any issues. So, there's a constant presence going back and forth onto the site.' Residents say the renewed smell has brought back difficult memories. 'It's going to go on like this for a while,' said Wheatley resident, Ron Shaw. 'People are going to be a little bit uptight about it until they finally figured out exactly what's going on.' Shaw said there's uncertainty and tension in the community. 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) 'People are on edge right now because of it. If they smell anything at all, they're going to, they're certainly going to say something. We'll just have to wait and see,' he said. 'After what happened to the corner, nothing seems as bad. I mean, right now, even if they do smell it, it's not going to ignite like it did before. Just a matter of finding out where it's coming from.' Shaw said they go by what they hear, and right now, there's a lot of uncertainty in the town. All anyone knows is they smelled gas. 'They're going to be careful and do what they have to do,' he said. 'I mean, if there was anything really dangerous, you wouldn't be allowed here. You wouldn't be able to get this close. So, let's see what happens.' Case acknowledged those fears and said it's an issue many Ontario communities will be living with for years to come. 'We always say that we get paid to worry so you don't have to. Which I don't think would be fair the people of Wheatley who are living with this concern, this obvious concern,' he said. 'As you've heard from us, from the province, this is a major issue with over 20,000 known wells in Ontario. We will work to deal with this specific well. We'll work to either put a stack on it or to permanently close it, as the investigations continue.' Case added that it is something that emergency responders and the community will be planning for and living with for a long time. '[Dealing with] Smells of gas and potentially finding unknown wells, or wells leaking, and being able to deal with them without causing too much concern to the community and without causing too much disruption. But we always err on the side of caution,' he said. Expand Autoplay 1 of 14 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) 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) 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) 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) 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) Wheatley gas odour investigation Ventilation for the water well hydrogen sulfide was confirmed to be coming out of in Wheatley, Ont., seen on June 27, 2025. (Bob Bellacicco/CTV News Windsor) Wheatley gas odour investigation Chatham-Kent police seen on scene of a gas odour investigation in Wheatley, Ont. on June 26, 2025. (Travis Fortnum/CTV News Windsor) Wheatley gas odour investigation Liquid rising from underground behind the Chatham-Kent Public Library in Wheatley, Ont. on June 26, 2025. (Source: Submitted by a Wheatley resident) Wheatley gas odour investigation Chatham-Kent police seen on scene of a gas odour investigation in Wheatley, Ont. on June 26, 2025. (Travis Fortnum/CTV News Windsor) Wheatley gas odour investigation Liquid rising from underground behind the Chatham-Kent Public Library in Wheatley, Ont. on June 26, 2025. (Source: Submitted by a Wheatley resident) Wheatley gas odour investigation Wheatley Area Arena, the temporary shelter site for affected residents by the gas odour investigation in Wheatley, Ont. on June 26, 2025. (Travis Fortnum/CTV News Windsor) Wheatley gas odour investigation Liquid rising from underground behind the Chatham-Kent Public Library in Wheatley, Ont. on June 26, 2025. (Source: Submitted by a Wheatley resident) Wheatley gas odour evacuation Source: Adam Thomas. Wheatley gas odour investigation Liquid rising from underground behind the Chatham-Kent Public Library in Wheatley, Ont. on June 26, 2025. (Source: Submitted by a Wheatley resident) Maurice Dusseault, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Waterloo, who has researched oil and gas well integrity, said these kinds of situations are the result of Ontario's aging infrastructure of both documented and undocumented wells. 'The moment you smell rotten eggs, there's an issue. But the good thing is, is that our noses are extremely sensitive, and we can detect rotten egg smell down to less than one parts per million,' Dusseault said. 'Unfortunately, this problem is going to be with us for many, many decades into the future because we have about 27,000 known wells in Ontario and perhaps as many as 10 to 15,000 undocumented wells in Ontario that were drilled back in the 1800s and 1900s. This legacy is going to haunt us for generations to come, as we find these old wells that are undocumented, one after another… and Wheatley is just the most recent example of this process.' He added that there are no easy or inexpensive fixes. 'It's not cheap. This is the problem,' Dusseault said. 'A practical solution is not easily available because how do you identify the pathway to the surface?' As of Wednesday, gas was no longer being detected at the library site, but Chatham-Kent officials said the location remains under active observation.
CTV News
26-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Portion of Wheatley evacuated for gas odour investigation
A portion of Wheatley is being evacuated by emergency services due to a gas odour investigation. The affected area is Foster Street between Victoria Street North and Erie Street North. Wheatley gas odour investigation Evacuated area in Wheatley, Ont. for a gas odour investigation on June 26, 2025. The evacuation is a precaution to ensure the safety of everyone in the area. A temporary shelter has been put up at the arena on Erie Street North for those who are displaced. Emergency services are on scene and the public is told to stay away from the area until further notice. More information to come as it's provided. This comes just weeks after plans were released to revitalize the downtown, four years after the explosion.
