It is also giving $2.5 million to Chatham-Kent as the municipality continues to deal with the fallout from a 2021 explosion that levelled a building and injured 20 people.
Natural Resources Minister Graydon Smith says the province will spend $23.6 million on an ``action plan'' to address risks of old wells. That includes plans to double funding to $6 million for an existing program that plugs old oil and gas wells. Local officials declared two states of emergency and evacuation orders in Wheatley, Ont., in June and July of 2021 after discovering hydrogen sulphide gas leaks in the area. The blast in late August 2021 crushed a privately owned former pub.

<p>It is also giving $2.5 million to Chatham-Kent as the municipality continues to deal with the fallout from a 2021 explosion that levelled a building and injured 20 people.<br>Natural Resources Minister Graydon Smith says the province will spend $23.6 million on an ``action plan'' to address risks of old wells. That includes plans to double funding to $6 million for an existing program that plugs old oil and gas wells. Local officials declared two states of emergency and evacuation orders in Wheatley, Ont., in June and July of 2021 after discovering hydrogen sulphide gas leaks in the area. The blast in late August 2021 crushed a privately owned former pub.</p>