Department of the Interior to Address Orphaned Wells
Through funds from the IIJA, the Department of the Interior will be investing $33 million to repair and reclaim orphaned oil and gas wells.
According to the Bradford Era, the allocation is part of a total of $250 million provided through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for cleaning up orphaned wells and well sites on federal public lands, national parks, national wildlife refuges and national forests. Funding will be distributed to four agencies for work in California, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. The agencies are expected to immediately begin the process to acquire plugging and reclamation services through contracts and grants.