Biden-Harris Administration Invests $775 Million to Plug Orphaned Oil and Gas Wells
Orphaned wells are being plugged across the nation; officials say public health benefits.
According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, plugging is underway across the country, and since the enactment of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, states have plugged more than 8,200 orphaned wells. Nationwide, investments through the Department’s Orphaned Well Program Office are estimated to have supported over 7,200 jobs and contributed more than $900 million to the economy over the last two fiscal years.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is enabling us to confront long-standing environmental injustices by making a historic investment to plug orphaned wells throughout the country,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “These investments are good for our climate, for the health of our communities, and for American workers. With this third round of additional funding, states will put more people to work to clean up these toxic sites, reduce methane emissions and safeguard our environment.”
Orphaned oil and gas wells are polluting backyards, recreation areas, and community spaces across the country. Many of these wells pose serious health and safety threats by contaminating surface and groundwater, releasing toxic air pollutants, and leaking methane – a “super pollutant” that is a significant cause of climate change and many times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Plugging orphaned wells supports broader Biden-Harris administration efforts under the U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan. This effort also advances the President’s Justice40 Initiative that sets a goal to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that have been historically marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
