CALMAR, ALTA. — A small Alberta town that once prospered thanks to the oil industry is now edging ever closer to collapsing because of it.

Old oil well sites drilled in the 1960s and 70s surround Calmar, Alta., which is located about 50 kilometres southwest of Edmonton. All of the drilling equipment and infrastructure is gone and all that remains are open pits filled with potentially contaminated soil.

Because of this, none of that land can be developed.

“Companies came, they drilled, they made millions of dollars and then they left,” states Michelle Levasseur, the town’s economic development officer. “If I’m unable to help this community grow by creating jobs and development, then our community essentially could die.”

Source: Alberta town on the verge of collapse due to aging oil wells