PA Environment Digest Blog: Gov. Shapiro Marks Plugging 100th Conventional Oil & Gas Well In 10 Months; New Initiative Allows Texting Abandoned Well Photos/Locations To Governor That Need Plugging

On October 18, Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Department of Environmental Protection, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council marked the plugging of the 100th conventional oil and gas well– more wells than were plugged in the prior 6 years combined.

In a related social media post, Gov. Shapiro also announced-- “Starting now, you can text 717-788-8990 with a picture of any abandoned oil or gas well and your coordinates, and my team will work to plug that abandoned well.”

The 100th well was plugged at Hillman State Park under an emergency contract with Yost Drilling after DEP followed up on reports from local residents concerned about the risks abandoned wells pose to public health and safety.

[The Hillman State Park well is one of several abandoned conventional wells in Hanover Township, Washington County DEP has said they plan to plug because of ongoing citizen complaints of water supply contamination who has been without clean water and impacts to residents’ health.

[The conventional wells include SB Donaldson 1, 2, 3 and AB Donaldson 3, which were part of a DEP order the agency issued against Prosperity Oil Co, Inc. [Read more here.] DEP inspections in April found several of these wells venting natural gas. Read more here.

[For more information contact Cathy Lodge at: clodge@environmentalintegrity.org. ]

“My Administration is making real progress towards tackling a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions here in Pennsylvania, and creating thousands of good-paying, union jobs in the process,” said Gov. Josh Shapiro. “We must reject the false choice between protecting jobs and protecting our planet. I believe we can do both – we can embrace the Commonwealth’s role as an energy leader, create good-paying jobs, and fulfill our constitutional obligation to protect Pennsylvania’s clean air and pure water. Let’s plug the wells, improve our air quality, and strengthen our communities.”

Capping and plugging orphaned and abandoned wells improves public health, reduces planet-warming methane emissions, and creates good-paying jobs.

Gov. Shapiro directed the DEP to draw down as much federal funding as possible to cap and plug the orphaned and abandoned wells that dot Pennsylvania.

“We are grateful to Gov. Shapiro for his leadership in moving to address orphaned and abandoned wells,” said Amanda Leland, Executive Director of Environmental Defense Fund. “These wells can leak methane and air toxics, contaminate groundwater and surface water, create an explosion risk for nearby structures, and significantly reduce property values. President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has helped jumpstart orphan well plugging in Pennsylvania – providing critical funds – and can help chip away at the state’s tens of thousands of documented orphan wells while work continues to identify the estimated hundreds of thousands of undocumented orphaned and abandoned wells in the Commonwealth.”

Thanks to the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Pennsylvania is poised to receive more than $400 million over the next 15 years to cap and plug conventional oil and gas wells across the Commonwealth.

This has already led to adding a dozen additional DEP staff specifically working on wells in Western Pennsylvania alone.

“The Shapiro Administration’s orphaned and abandoned well plugging program is a win for the environment, our communities, and the industry, said Scott Kiger, CEO of Yost Drilling. “This program benefits local businesses and provides long-term employment opportunities for the residents of our state. Yost Drilling is proud to be a part of this milestone for Pennsylvania.”

Greenhouse Gas Reductions

Through IIJA funding and existing state funding for DEP, the Commonwealth is moving to tackle this massive contributor of greenhouse gasses.

More than approximately 350,000 orphaned conventional oil and gas wells across our Commonwealth make up nearly 8% of our total methane emissions.

Methane is particularly dangerous because it is up to 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide – warming our planet and contributing to air pollution that damages our lungs and our hearts.

Because many wells in Pennsylvania were drilled before modern mapping and regulations, DEP only had locations for about 30,000 wells, a fraction of the estimated 350,000 orphaned wells.

For too long, the Commonwealth had inadequate resources to address the problem.

“Today’s celebration highlights the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to investing in our environment and public resources as a key driver for wellbeing and economic success in Pennsylvania,” said Davitt Woodwell, President of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council. “From tackling the cost and challenge of our extraction legacy to creating an Office of Outdoor Recreation, Pennsylvania’s brightest future is one that serves environmental, community, and economic prosperity together.”

Click Here for the complete announcement.

[Visit DEP’s federally-funded Well Plugging Program webpage for more background. Visit DEP’s Well Plugging Dashboard to see how many wells being plugged pose an environmental and/or health threat.]

Preventing More Abandoned Conventional Wells

DEP has been using the funding provided by the IIJA to inspect and inventory more orphaned and abandoned wells, and to implement a new enforcement strategy.

DEP is aggressively going after operators who are walking away from wells and stepping in with emergency plugging contracts where needed to protect public health.

[In December, DEP issued the first-ever assessment of how well conventional oil and gas operators comply with state environmental laws.

[They found continuing to abandon oil and gas wells to be the most frequent violation DEP deals with, saying between 400 and 600 conventional wells continue to be abandoned each year by operators. Read more here.

[The December report also said conventional operators had a “culture of non-compliance” that is “an acceptable norm in the conventional oil and gas industry.” Read more here.

[A report issued in April by the Environmental Defense Fund said a new study found 55,000 oil and gas wells owned by operators in Pennsylvania are at high risk of becoming abandoned leaving state taxpayers holding the bag for $3.7 billion in well plugging and cleanup costs. Read more here.

[The same report said another 51,000 conventional wells were at risk of being transferred to low solvency owners. Read more here.

[A hearing in April by the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee further documented significant noncompliance by conventional oil and gas well owners, including the pervasive practices of well abandonment. Read more here.

[In May, the House Environmental Resources and Energy Committee reported out House Bill 962 (Vitali-D-Delaware) that corrects the flaws in Act 96 by a party-line vote-- Republicans opposing. The bill was Tabled for action in the House. Read more here.

[On August 24, PennFuture, the Sierra Club, Clean Air Council, Protect Penn-Trafford, and Earthworks announced they have filed a joint lawsuit in Commonwealth Court against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, including the General Assembly and Gov. Shapiro, challenging the constitutionality of a law that prevents the Commonwealth from protecting communities, public health and the environment from the harm caused by abandoned conventional oil and gas wells.

[The groups said thousands of abandoned, unplugged conventional wells in Pennsylvania leak methane and other harmful chemicals into the air and water, harming public health and worsening the climate crisis.

[They mar communities, reduce property values, and depress the local tax base. They are also at risk of explosion. Read more here.]

Environmental Justice Policy

The Shapiro Administration is also prioritizing environmental justice when deciding which wells to tackle. DEP is going after the wells that pose the greatest threat to public health and safety, as well as prioritizing wells located in environmental justice areas.

DEP is looking at methane emissions and impacts on disadvantaged communities to put those wells at the top of the list.

[Note: Laurie Barr, from Save Our Streams PA, said DEP should be spending the new federal well plugging funds to plug wells that are causing real problems

[She pointed out that 96% of the wells being plugged with the first round of federal funding did not have any environmental impacts and 89% did not have any human impacts, according to DEP’s federal Well Plugging Program Well Tracking webpage.]

Earlier this year, the Shapiro Administration announced an updated environmental justice policy, which expanded the criteria to better include concerns of Pennsylvania communities most at risk from pollution and other environmental impacts and created an updated mapping tool that allows DEP to more accurately identify which communities qualify for environmental justice protections.

[Visit DEP’s Environmental Justice Permit Review Policy webpage for more information and the schedule of upcoming public hearings. Read more here.]

Resource Link:

-- Gov. Shapiro: We Need Stronger Laws To Deal With The ‘Corporate Greed’ That Let Oil & Gas Operators Get Away With Abandoning Wells For Far Too Long [PaEN]

NewsClips:

-- WTAE: Shapiro Announces 100th Abandoned Conventional Well Plugged; Homeowner With Contaminated Drinking Water Frustrated By Delays

-- Observer-Reporter: Milestone Moment: Hillman State Park Site Of State’s 100th Conventional Abandoned Well Plugging

-- StateImpactPA - Rachel McDevitt: 100 Plugged And 300,000+ To Go: Abandoned Conventional Well Cleanup Effort Jumps With Federal Money

-- Wilkes-Barre Editorial: Praise To Shapiro Administration For Plugging Old Conventional Abandoned Oil & Gas Wells