Published by the Post-Gazette. 5.1.24. Author: Jonathan D. Salant 

Legislation requiring the U.S. Energy Department to develop a program to identify, plug and clean up abandoned oil and gas wells passed the U.S. House overwhelmingly Tuesday.

There are as many as 3 million abandoned wells nationally, including an estimated 350,000 in Pennsylvania — second only to Texas — but less than 27,000 have been identified in the state.

“We cannot leave leaky oil and gas wells from the 1800s to continue poisoning and endangering our communities,” U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, the bill’s chief sponsor, said on the House floor during debate on the legislation.

The vote was 333-75, with only Republicans in opposition. All five Western Pennsylvania representatives voted yes. There is no Senate bill.

The legislation also calls for research into new and perhaps more cost-efficient ways of plugging the wells and stopping the leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane accounts for 12% of all greenhouse gas emissions in Pennsylvania and is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a 20-year period.

The Energy Department also would be directed to look at new purposes for the wells, such as geothermal energy production, and at ways to address the environmental impacts of the unplugged wells. The program would expire after five years.

It costs as much as $1 million to plug a well, said the measure’s chief Republican sponsor, Rep. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma.

“While active wells support hundreds of thousands of jobs, legacy sites, and abandoned wells can present environmental and economic problems,” Ms. Bice said.

The bill’s passage comes at a time when the White House has worked to reduce methane emissions as it seeks to address the greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. 

President Joe Biden has set up a methane task force to work with state and local officials to detect leaks and reduce emissions, and his bipartisan infrastructure law included $4.7 billion to address the problem.

In applying for federal funding to help plug wells, the state reported 26,908 documented so-called orphan wells and estimated it would cost $1.8 billion to fix the problem. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has estimated that the state will receive up to $400 million from the infrastructure law.

Link to article: House passes Summer Lee bill to address abandoned oil and gas wells | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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