Deb Haaland Secretary at U.S. Department of Interior | Official website
Today, as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Infrastructure Week, Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis visited New Mexico to announce a $25 million grant from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The funding is earmarked for cleaning up legacy pollution in the state. New Mexico plans to use this grant to plug approximately 117 orphaned oil and gas wells, remediate four sites, and complete surface restoration at 33 locations.
Orphaned oil and gas wells pose significant environmental and health risks across the country by contaminating surface and groundwater, releasing toxic air pollutants, and leaking methane – a potent greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to climate change. These funds will help mitigate these threats while supporting broader efforts under the U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan.
During her visit, Acting Deputy Secretary Daniel-Davis met with representatives from New Mexico’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to discuss their ongoing work to clean up legacy pollution across the state. To date, initial grant funding has enabled New Mexico to plug 137 wells and conduct extensive surface remediation and restoration of orphaned well sites.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is empowering communities across the country to confront long-standing environmental injustices by making a historic investment to plug orphaned oil and gas wells,” said Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis. “These investments are good for our climate, for the health of our communities, and for American workers."
The $25 million award is part of an overall $660 million in formula grant funding being released on a rolling basis. As part of this award, New Mexico will detect and measure methane emissions from orphaned oil and gas wells, screen for groundwater and surface water impacts, and prioritize cleaning up wells near overburdened communities.
This initiative aligns with President Biden's Justice40 Initiative that aims to deliver 40 percent of federal investment benefits to disadvantaged communities that have been marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
The Department of the Interior is using the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to deliver the largest investment in tackling legacy pollution in American history, including $4.7 billion to plug orphaned wells. Since the enactment of this law, states have plugged more than 7,700 orphaned wells and reduced approximately 11,530 metric tons of potential methane emissions. Nationwide, investments through the Department’s new program are estimated to have supported over 7,200 jobs and contributed more than $900 million over the last two fiscal years.
