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:
What’s happening with MERP in Ohio River Valley states?
The Methane Emissions Reduction Program (MERP) is facing serious setbacks. Here’s how states are implementing the MERP funding they’ve received so far.
New Policy Would Ensure Industry Pays For Well Decommissioning, Not Taxpayers
What is there to be done about the “culture of non-compliance” that has resulted in a potentially $100 billion bill to clean up as many as 1 million oil and gas wells across Appalachia? ORVI’s latest report has the answer. Part 2 of Filling the Hole presents a policy...
Well Decommissioning Presents Huge Job Opportunity For Appalachia
ORVI’s latest report, “Filling the Hole,” laid out a five-part policy to ensure that the oil and gas industry foots the bill for the tens of billions of dollars of decommissioning costs. The policy would create a comprehensive program for well decommissioning funded...
Testimony: Pennsylvania’s Lax Enforcement Could Escalate Orphan Well Crisis
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. —— Policy and regulatory failures have allowed Pennsylvania oil and gas well owners to delay and avoid plugging responsibilities as the number of leaky, aging wells at risk of abandonment continues to grow. That’s according to testimony to be delivered...
Taking Inventory
Lax well plugging enforcement in Pennsylvania could escalate the state’s orphan well crisis.
Unfunded Cost To Decommission The More Than 1 Million Wells In Appalachia Reaches Into The Tens Of Billions Of Dollars
The bill for the 150-year legacy of oil drilling in Appalachia is coming due. Yet, drilling still continues, adding to the region’s backlog of unplugged and polluting oil and gas wells. This is a huge problem for the region because unplugged wells have been linked to...
Filling the Hole
As Appalachian gas production plateaus, bold policy action is needed to ensure the industry pays for well plugging.
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.