The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is notifying residents of Wheatley that they may notice a petroleum smell near the scrubber unit and monitoring well off Elm Street in the downtown core for the next few days.
Municipal officials said ongoing testing of the monitoring well is causing some foul smelling water to be released through the Hydrogen Sulfide scrubber.
"The scrubber unit is functioning as designed and there is no risk to public safety," said the municipality in a news release Friday afternoon.
Hydrogen Sulfide gas was detected in downtown Wheatley in July 2021 and a massive explosion took place on Erie Street North the following month.
An emergency was officially declared over in October by municipal officials after the municipality reported that an uncovered well that was found underground in downtown Wheatley in late September was plugged.
Monitoring and testing continues to confirm that the situation is stable and redevelopment can proceed.
According to the municipality, Health, Safety, and Environmental staff will continue to oversee the site until all monitoring equipment is configured for remote alerts.
The system will monitor for gas around the clock with daily checks to ensure it's working properly, said the municipality, adding that the system will issue alarms if gas is detected, prompting an immediate response from the crew.
Officials added that the future of the wellhead still needs to be decided if the monitoring results are favourable.
Discussions will be held in the future to determine if it will be left as is or cut and buried.
