U.S. Dept. Of Interior Awards PA $25 Million In Conventional Oil & Gas Well Plugging Funding From Federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

On August 25, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced it has formally awarded an initial $560 million from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to 24 states to begin work to plug, cap and reclaim orphaned oil and gas wells. 

Pennsylvania received a grant of $25 million and indicated it will plug 50 wells with the funding as well as ramp up the new federal well plugging program to invest future funding in conventional oil and gas well plugging.

Pennsylvania is expected to receive up to $395 million for conventional well plugging over the next 15 years.

Eligible states have indicated that there are over 10,000 high-priority well sites across the country ready for immediate remediation efforts, with many more lined up for future action.

DOI said the number of wells varies based on the remoteness, well depth, site conditions and previous activity at the well site as well as other state considerations, such as the number of existing staff and whether the state has preexisting well plugging contracts.

Click Here for the complete announcement.

First Phase Well Plugging List

Of the initial 26,908 abandoned/orphaned conventional oil and gas wells DEP told the U.S. Department of the Interior it had authority to plug, DEP is working with an “Initial Grant Phase Well List” of just short of 400.

This list includes the highest scoring priority wells-- in red-- and wells in proximity to those wells that can be bid as a group to make up the first 51 wells.

The priority well contracting groups are in Allegheny (4), Armstrong (4), Beaver (1), Butler (7), Cambria (1), Clarion (2), Clinton (1), Crawford (3), Elk (1), Indiana (1), Jefferson (4), Lawrence (2), McKean (5), Venango (5), Warren (7), Washington (2) and Westmoreland (1).

Visit DEP’s Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act webpage for more information on the federal conventional oil and gas well plugging program

Related Articles - Abandoned Wells:

-- DEP Concerned About Impact Of New Law Blocking Conventional Oil & Gas Well Bonding On New Federal Well Plugging Funds, Regulating Waste Injection Wells  [PaEN]

-- Bay Journal: New Abandoned Wells - More Concerns Emerge Over Pennsylvania’s Conventional Oil & Gas Wells - By Ad Crable, Chesapeake Bay Journal [PaEN]

-- New Abandoned Wells: DEP Records Show Abandoning Oil & Gas Wells Without Plugging Them Is Pervasive In Conventional Drilling Industry; Who Is Protecting Taxpayers?  [PaEN]

-- Creating New Brownfields: Oil & Gas Well Drillers Notified DEP They Are Cleaning Up Soil & Water Contaminated With Chemicals Harmful To Human Health, Aquatic Life At 272 Locations In PA  [PaEN]

-- Gov. Wolf Announces Evaluation Of How DEP Regulates Conventional Oil & Gas Drilling & The Industry’s Compliance With Environmental Safeguards [PaEN]

-- Conventional Oil & Natural Gas Drilling: An Industrial Machine Moving Across The PA Countryside Leaving Behind Big Liabilities & Spreading Pollution Everywhere It Goes  [PaEN]

[Posted: August 25, 2022]  PA Environment Digest