Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Lands, who seems to have primary responsibility for the former Cameron Hills solid gas field.
Can the Minister tell us when the abandonment agreement with Environmental Liabilities Management Incorporated, or ELM, was signed and the value of that work or contract? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Frame Lake. Minister responsible for Lands.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I thank the Member for the question. The abandonment agreement with the contractor was signed on December 9th following a procedural process authorized by the court. The work is being undertaken by the receiver to carry out the order issued by the regulator of oil and gas regulations. The cost to complete this work is $15 million but as the workers or the contractor gets into the site, there may be additional costs. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. So during the review of the public accounts, it was revealed that an extra $20 million had been added to the GNWT's environmental liabilities fund as a result of Cameron Hills.
So can the Minister confirm this is the total amount of liability GNWT has calculated for Cameron Hills and whether any further funds will be needed for proper closure and reclamation? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to date, the GNWT's only calculated the liability required to carry out the order issued by ROGO. This order includes closure of oil and gas wells at Cameron Hills along with removal of pipelines and related infrastructure such as tanks and batteries. The cost of reclamation under the land use permit and water license, such as sumps and contaminated soil, has not been estimated at this time, Mr. Speaker. Thank you.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I want to thank the Minister for that. So there's going to be another hit coming our way? So as I understand, the closure and reclamation plan for Cameron Hills has never been completed, and there's no publiclyavailable cost estimate for the site. So it's not clear just what ELM is actually doing and how the public is supposed to have any input.
Can the Minister tell us when the closure plan and cost estimate work will be completed and why this work was not done before ELM was contracted? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The contractor is conducting work to meet the timelines in the order issued by OROGO to close the wells at Cameron Hill and remove pipelines and related infrastructure. This work is being inspected and certified by OROGO according to the legislation and standards. The land and water board issued a permit to allow this work to proceed. The land and water board has required the receiver to submit a revised closure and reclamation plan with other work at the site by June of 2024. This revised plan will be available for public comments through the land and water board process. The receiver is currently working on this plan. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. I'm learning a lot from these questions. The fourth report from the receiver shows that K'atlodeeche First Nation was not happy that the current closure and abandonment work went to a southern company. There's apparently some sort of northern benefits plan that has been required of ELM Incorporated.
Can the Minister provide us with some details about what is in that northern benefits plan, and will he commit to table it in this House? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The initial benefits plan for Cameron Hills was approved in 2002, was transferred from Canada at devolution, a draft of the 2002 documents of the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board is at the public registry. So it is already available publicly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Hay River South.
