The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) has awarded $36.9 million in grants to three states for cleaning up legacy pollution from orphaned oil wells.
The grants are the first phase of formula grant funding through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for Kentucky, Mississippi and Missouri to clean up legacy pollution, the DOI said in a recent news release.
As part of the funding, the three states will measure methane emissions from orphaned oil and gas wells, screen for groundwater and surface water impacts, and seek to prioritize cleaning up wells near overburdened and disadvantaged communities, the DOI noted.
To plug and reclaim approximately 550 orphaned oil and gas wells, Kentucky is receiving a $25 million award. Mississippi’s $6.8 million award will be used to continue efforts identifying, characterizing, and prioritizing previously undocumented orphaned wells and to conduct plugging, remediation and restoration work on approximately 400 orphaned well sites. To plug and reclaim approximately 238 orphaned wells, Missouri is receiving $5.1 million, according to the release.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is creating jobs and revitalizing local economies while cleaning up harmful legacy pollution sites throughout the country,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said.
“I’ve seen many of these hazardous sites firsthand that are actively leaking oil and releasing methane gas that need to be urgently addressed. With this historic funding, the states of Kentucky, Mississippi and Missouri will continue the progress made plugging wells over the last year. These investments are good for our climate, for the health of our communities, and for American workers,” Haaland added.
According to the Orphaned Wells Program Office, orphaned oil and gas wells are legacy pollution sites. They are environmental hazards and jeopardize public health and safety by contaminating surface water and groundwater, emitting noxious gases like methane, littering the landscape with rusted and dangerous equipment, and harming wildlife.
The DOI said it is “delivering the largest investment in tackling legacy pollution in American history,” including $4.7 billion to plug orphaned wells, through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In August 2022, the Department announced $560 million in initial grant funding to 24 states, including $25 million to Kentucky and $5 million to Mississippi for these states to begin work plugging and cleaning up orphaned wells, the agency noted.
Since the enactment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, states across the nation have plugged more than 7,000 orphaned oil and gas wells and reduced approximately 11,530 metric tons of potential methane emissions. Kentucky plugged 635 wells with its initial grant, and Mississippi has used its funding to plug 14 wells, reclaim and remediate 26 orphaned infrastructure sites, and compile data pertaining to over 900 potentially orphaned wells in need of further investigation, analysis, and review, the DOI stated.
Further, nearly $150 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds has been awarded to federal land managers to plug, remediate and restore orphaned wells on public lands and waters. The DOI said that approximately $40 million has been awarded to Tribal communities to address orphaned wells on Tribal lands. The window for Tribes to apply for up to $55 million in phase two orphaned well funding is currently open, according to the release.
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