The Biden administration has allocated additional funds to Ohio to address the issue of abandoned oil and natural gas wells that are causing problems in the state’s rural areas. This funding will be used to clean up and seal these wells and help mitigate their harmful effects on the environment and local communities.
Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Interior Department has granted the state a sum of $57.25 million. This federal law, which was passed in 2021, has allocated $1.2 trillion to improve various aspects of the country such as road and bridge repair, internet accessibility, clean water provision, port enhancement, public transportation investment, and more. The Biden administration has declared that $16 billion from this law will be utilized to tackle legacy pollution by reclaiming abandoned coal mines and plugging orphaned wells.
Five states, including Ohio, received a total of $126.7 million in funding during this recent round. Other states that were awarded funding include Alaska, New York, Indiana, and Arizona.
According to the Interior Department, funding has been allocated to cover the closure of almost 600 wells in various states. Additionally, there will be an inventory of abandoned wells that were not previously documented to ensure preparedness for future closure activities.
In the past year, a sum of $63.8 million was granted to the state for the purpose of cleaning up 29 wells located in Wayne National Forest. As of 2022, an additional $25 million was awarded to the state for the same cause.
According to a report submitted by the state to the Interior Department in 2021, around 20,000 orphan wells have been recorded. In southeast Ohio’s Wayne National Forest, there are at least 200 abandoned oil and gas wells that date back to the 1800s.
According to Karina Cheung, spokeswoman for the department, it is believed that there are potentially thousands of undocumented wells in Ohio. To address this issue, Ohio is utilizing drone-based magnetometers and field reconnaissance efforts to locate orphan wells.
According to a news article from Columbus Dispatch published two years ago, Ohio may have around 100,000 abandoned oil and gas wells, while 250,000 wells have already been drilled in the state.
According to her, the department is prioritizing the sealing of wells that present the highest danger to the well-being of the public and the surroundings.
According to her, plugging certain wells can be more complex and demand more effort and resources as compared to shallower wells.
Although there is still a significant amount of work to be done, the state has made progress in increasing the number of wells that have been successfully plugged in recent years.
According to the department, out of the 3,345 wells that have been plugged since 1978, a significant number of 1,291 wells have been plugged since 2018. In the recently concluded fiscal year, the Orphan Well program of the department’s Division of Oil & Gas Resources Management contracted the plugging of 481 wells. Out of these, a total of 355 wells were successfully plugged.
According to a report by the Columbus Dispatch published two years ago, there are approximately 100,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in the state of Ohio, with a total of 250,000 wells having been drilled in the region.
According to Cheung, the main goal of the division is to utilize the funds to efficiently plug as many orphan wells as possible. This initiative aims to safeguard the environment, human health, and safety.