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Municipal officials squash demolition rumours in Wheatley

Municipal officials in Chatham-Kent are squashing the rumours that suggest more buildings in Wheatley will be demolished.

Director of Public Works Ryan Brown said the recent rumours that have been circulating on social media and in the community are inaccurate.

The rumour was that some or all of the buildings within the evacuation zone in Wheatley are going to be demolished.

"We wanted to address these rumours that have been going around," said Brown. "No decision has been made going forward about any of the other buildings in the zone."

According to Brown, the only buildings that have been demolished to date were the two buildings that were severely damaged by the explosion, adding that those had to come down.

"There are some buildings with damage that were in close proximity to the explosion, but those decisions will all be made later on through the building department," said Brown. "At this time, no decisions have been made."

In an update on Tuesday, municipal officials said contractors were able to complete the drilling on the monitoring well near APEC 2 without incident on Monday. The drilling on the second monitoring well will also take place this week.

"Work on that well was halted for a short time Sunday when a pocket of gas was discovered," read the release. "The gas emission lasted 15 minutes, safety protocols in place were initiated and work resumed when it was safe to do so.  Officials say the emission isn’t uncommon in such drilling."

Municipal officials expect the drilling of the second well in Wheatley to be completed by the end of this week.

They are asking residents to stay behind the barricades that have been erected near the site.

"Equipment for re-drilling the Tait well at APEC 2 in the municipal parking lot is expected to arrive on site this week," read the release. "Information gathered from this work as well as a sampling of regional gas wells for comparison with on site samples should provide more information for investigators."

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