In a continuing move to plug orphaned wells across the country, the Department of Interior has announced that roughly $775 million in federal support is available in a new round of funding.
“These investments are good for our climate, for the health of our communities, and for American workers,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland remarked in announcing the funding opportunity.
The latest funding, added the Secretary, “will put more people to work to clean up these toxic sites, reduce methane emissions, and safeguard our environment.”
The funding builds on an initial $565 million made available in the fall of 2022 which targeted an estimated 10,000 wells, including around 1,100 wells in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico.
According to studies, there were up to 129,000 wells located on both private and public lands as of 2022. Using census data, an analysis published by the Environmental Defense Fund has claimed that at least 14 million people live within a mile of an orphaned well.
Earlier this year the State of New Mexico received some $25 million in funding for continued work plugging such wells. That support came on top of an initial $25 million used to plug nearly 140 wells, while also restoring several contaminated sites.
Orphaned wells no longer producing oil or gas typically come about when an exploration company has gone out of business or filed for bankruptcy, leaving it up to the state to decide what to do with them.
The wells have been particularly predominant in a geographical arc stretching from upstate New York to southern Kentucky and Illinois, with large concentrations in northeastern Oklahoma, western Texas, southeastern New Mexico, and southern California.
A press release from the Interior Department notes that such wells not only pollute residential backyards in some neighborhoods, as well as community spaces and parks; they also pose health risks due to “contaminating surface and groundwater, releasing toxic air pollutants, and leaking methane.”
The latest round of orphaned wells Interior Department funding is coming via three grant categories: initial grants, formula grants, and performance grants.
By Garry Boulard
Image Credit: Courtesy Department of the Interior
