LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has set aside $16 billion in federal funds to clean up orphaned oil and natural gas wells and dormant coal mines.
What You Need To Know
- $16 billion in federal funds are available
- Kentucky has 18% of the nation's orphaned wells
- Cleanup efforts are expected to create thousands of jobs
- Wells can contaminate water and pollute the air
Kentucky has 14,367 such wells, accounting for nearly 18% of the roughly 81,000 documented wells in the country, according to a new report by the Environmental Defense Fund. The federal money for cleanup efforts is positive since wells no longer in operation and have no owner of record require tribes and state and federal governments to shoulder the cleanup cost, the EDF said.
The EDF report shows Kentucky’s orphaned wells are most densely concentrated in the state’s western, southern and eastern parts, with the highest number of wells in Lee County, followed by Cumberland and Ohio counties. EDF Senior Attorney Adam Peltz said the Ohio Valley region has such a high number because Kentucky had some of the country’s earliest oil and gas development.
“One does not necessarily think of the crescent from Appalachia into the Midwest as a major hydrocarbon production area, but it is and has been since the 1850s,” Peltz told WFPL’s Ryan Van Velzer.
The known orphan wells emit the equivalent of seven-to-20 million tons of C02 equivalent greenhouse gases annually. According to the EDF, unplugged wells can also leak toxic chemicals such as benzene that can spoil water and cause air pollution — threatening the health, well-being and property values of those living nearby.
Funds to clean up documented orphaned wells were provided through the REGROW Act as part of the infrastructure bill. State governments will apply for grants to clean up wells in their region.
Closure costs can average between $25,000 and $475,000 per well, but Peltz said there are enough funds available for Kentucky to clean up every documented well in the state.
Besides the environmental benefits, cleaning and plugging the wells is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs across the country, according to a report from Resources for the Future.