Repairing the Damage from Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells
Hundreds of thousands of orphan oil and gas wells across the Ohio River Valley region threaten communities and the environment with harmful air and water pollution and climate-warming emissions. Federally funded programs to clean up these environmental liabilities could create tens of thousands of well-paying jobs each year, research shows.
Photo: Ted Boettner, 2022
Reports:
All research on Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells:
Damage Control: Federal Funding to Plug Orphaned Wells—And Create Good-Paying Jobs—Is In Jeopardy
Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia have been awarded a total of $290.3 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to clean up orphaned oil & gas well sites.
Abandoned Wells Could Wreak Havoc for Carbon Storage in West Virginia
Tens of thousands of abandoned wells overlay West Virginia’s prospective carbon storage reservoirs, risking leakage.
Filling the Hole: A Federal Solution to Cleaning Up America’s Orphaned and Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells
On October 23, 2024, Senior Researcher Ted Boettner presented at the 2nd Annual Orphan & Idle Wells Texas Conference on the need for a federal solution to clean up America’s orphaned and abandoned wells. His presentation is summarized below. An upcoming report...
Addressing Pennsylvania’s Orphaned Well Crisis
Pennsylvania, like several other oil and gas producing states, has a broken system when it comes to preventing orphaned and abandoned wells. Its inadequate bonding and regulatory systems incentivize the indefinite delay of plugging responsibilities and the orphaning...
Addressing Methane Emissions in Appalachia
New EPA methane regulations will create up to 15,000 well-plugging jobs in the Ohio River Valley. $1.3 billion in IIJA and MERP funding can support thousands of additional job-years.
Getting Unions Connected to Orphaned Well Clean Up: A Second Bite at the Apple
Last month, the Department of Interior (DOI) released its application guidance for Phase 1 state formula grants for orphaned well clean up under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The formula grants are one of three grant programs included in the...
Appalachia is Likely the Largest Source of Methane Emissions in the US
If it were its own country, Appalachia would be the third-largest producer of natural gas in the world, behind only Russia and the rest of the United States. And, as new measurements reveal, Appalachia is likely the source of more system-wide fossil fuel...
ORVI in Southeastern Louisiana to Learn about a True Transition for Oil & Gas Workers
During the third week in March, I had the opportunity to travel to southeastern Louisiana to take part in several events sponsored by True Transition, a new group working to build a brighter future for oil and gas workers and communities across the country. For over a...
First Tranche of Federal Orphan Well Funds Out the Door
In August of 2022, the US Department of Interior (DOI) announced it awarded 24 states $560 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to plug over 10,000 wells, reclaim well sites, and measure methane emissions. In January of last year, DOI announced...