The emergency response and community assistance following multiple gas leaks and an explosion in Wheatley have cost the Municipality of Chatham-Kent $2.5 million so far.
A report going before council Monday night shows the money was spent on various services, community support, and staff labour until the end of October and more bills are on the way. The accounting and finance departments said a $786,674 invoice from the Windsor Hazmat Team has yet to be paid and the cost of securing the downtown site continues to climb. Expenses for continuing engineering work to find the source of the gas and repairs also continue to mount.
The municipality said talks continue with the province to get expenses covered but no funds have been received yet.
Another report is expected in February adding up all of the expenses until the end of the year.
A State of Emergency was declared in downtown Wheatley on June 2, 2021 when hydrogen sulphide gas was first detected. The gas leak returned July 19, 2021 and 23 homes and 13 businesses were evacuated. A blast on August 26, 2021 damaged several buildings and forced another evacuation that remains in effect to date.
Around 150 frustrated and emotional residents showed up at a community meeting held on Wednesday night to get an update on the progress of the investigation trying to locate the source of the gas.
Assistant Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry Jennifer Barton told those in attendance that the investigation is focusing on three “areas of interest” in the immediate vicinity of the August 26 explosion at 15 Erie Street North. She said public safety remains to be of paramount importance and expressed admiration for the resilience of the Wheatley community.
Something echoed by Mayor Darrin Canniff, who said mental health and allowing people to get on with their lives as quickly as possible is very important.
“It was important to be able to hear from residents. Our focus continues to be safety, completing the investigation and mitigation so we have the answers and solutions we need, getting people back to their homes and businesses, and ensuring that no one is left behind. We know this situation places a physical, financial and emotional toll on people,” said Canniff.
The mayor said the last thing anybody wants is to rush the investigation and the repairs just to find out in three months that it wasn't fixed properly.
Chatham-Kent CAO Don Shropshire said the residents want more technical information, better security of the evacuation zone because some are slipping into the area illegally, and temporary access to homes and businesses to retrieve records and personal items.
“We learned a lot and there were a number of excellent suggestions that we are taking back to the team,” Shropshire said. “I’m grateful that we were invited. We appreciate the efforts of the community to work with us. Supporting our business owners and residents who have been evacuated remains a top priority.”
Chair of the Active Citizens group Lauren Anderson said the meeting was beneficial.
“I think the community meeting went as well as possible. I definitely saw a shift in how people entered the meeting and how they left the meeting a little lighter. Seeing everyone together supporting each other in-person was very important and necessary for our community,” she said.
