Legislation working its way through Congress would commit around $5 billion in federal funding to cleaning up abandoned oil and gas wells.
The Revive Economic Growth and Reclaim Orphaned Wells bill, introduced by New Mexico Senator Ben Ray Lujan and North Dakota Senator Kevin Cramer, would, if approved, provide nearly $4.3 billion for the clean up of all orphaned wells on both state and private lands.
An additional $400 million would go for orphaned well cleanup work on tribal lands.
In a statement, Lujan said communities across the country are “suffering from harmful methane emissions that are released by thousands of orphaned oil and gas wells.”
According to sources, there are currently more than 56,000 documented inactive orphaned wells in the U.S.
A just-released report by the National Parks Conservations Association pinpoints nearly 32,000 such wells within a 30-mile radius of national park sites.
Along with emitting methane, such wells have the potential of seeping into area groundwater.
Besides its environmental goals, the legislation is also being regarded as a jobs measure because it would allow oil and gas workers to return to one-time job sites once the old oil and gas wells have been plugged.
The legislation would additionally create a $150 million grant program to be administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and designed to help tribal governments address the orphaned well challenges in their communities.
Earlier this spring, the Western Governors’ Association gave its backing to the legislation, noting that although many states in the West are already engaged in oil and gas well plugging endeavors, “this work could be significantly accelerated with federal assistance.”
The REGROW Act of 2021 is currently under review in a subcommittee of the Senate’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
By Garry Boulard
