In an Aug. 25 news release, the Department of the Interior established that Texas would start cleaning up abandoned wells.
The Department of the Interior confirmed a $25 million grant to the State of Texas to "plug 800 documented wells," a DOI press release said. The State will purchase supplies and vehicles, hire personnel and develop a plan that will allow it to measure and track methane and other gases.
“President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is enabling us to confront long-standing environmental injustices by making a historic investment to plug orphaned wells throughout the country," Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said. "At the Department of the Interior, we are working on multiple fronts to clean up these sites as quick as we can by investing in efforts on federal lands and partnering with states and Tribes to leave no community behind. Today’s announcement is exciting progress toward what we will accomplish together through this historic Law.”
An abandoned, or orphaned, well is one that is inactive and noncompliant, with at least 12 months of inactivity; the Railroad Commission of Texas said. Another criterion is that "the responsible operator's Organizational Report (Form P-5) has been delinquent for greater than 12 months."
The Environmental Defense Fund has estimated that there are more than 6,000 orphaned wells in Texas.
