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<\/a>In the fall of 2021, after much effort by EDF and other stakeholders, Congress included<\/a> $4.7 billion in funding as part of the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, to close as many \u201corphan\u201d wells as possible, with a focus on leaky wells near communities.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Last week, the first of these wells was plugged in a small town in Texas. Plugging this well marks a critical milestone for the program even as more work remains to be done to prevent more wells from becoming orphaned pollution risks.<\/p>\n
When oil and gas wells are no longer productive, they must be \u201cplugged\u201d with cement to prevent leakage of methane, air toxics and salty, chemical-laden water into the environment. Unfortunately, all too often, operators fail to plug their wells in a timely fashion and go bankrupt or otherwise disappear, leaving states responsible for well closure. Because states have historically been underfunded for this work, there are over 120,000 documented \u201corphan\u201d oil and gas wells across the country<\/a> from New York to California, and potentially another 800,000 that have not yet been fully identified.<\/p>\nFirst \u201corphan\u201d well plugged as federal program gains momentum, more to be done. <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n