The U.S. Department of the Interior announced $33 million investment for the Federal Orphaned Well Program.
According to a May 25 news release, the program will work to plug, remediate and reclaim abandoned oil and gas wells in national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and other public lands.
“Millions of Americans live within a mile of hundreds of thousands of orphaned oil and gas wells. These wells jeopardize public health and safety by contaminating groundwater, seeping toxic chemicals, emitting harmful pollutants including methane, and harming wildlife,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Laura Daniel-Davis said in the release. “We are grateful that investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will enable the federal government to do our part to address this legacy pollution.”
The Federal Orphaned Well Program is a partnership between the Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior Land Management Agencies, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Interstate Oil and Gas Commission Compact.
According to the Bureau of Land Management, the program will use the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds to improve public health and safety and reduce water and air pollution. This is the first year of a multi-year effort, utilizing more than $4.4 billion in grants to states and Tribes to plug orphaned wells and reclaim orphaned well sites on state, Tribal and private lands.
“Orphaned wells are a legacy that we must address, as they can release methane, pollute groundwater and pose a hazard to people and wildlife alike," Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in the BLM release. "Millions of Americans live within a mile of an orphaned well, and many more may be recreating on federal lands near one. We are pleased to do our part to help fix the problem."
