Pennsylvania’s program to plug abandoned wells lacks public oversight

By Anthony Hennen | The Center Square

HARRISBURG, PA – As Pennsylvania’s abandoned gas and oil wells get more attention (and federal funding to plug them), environmentalists worry there’s little oversight of how the money is spent, and even less public transparency.

With more money in the pipeline for the future, a lack of accountability could mean tens of millions of dollars spent, but little payoff for public health and environmental improvements.

“There’s these huge red flags that are going up and we really have to do better, we have to manage the money better,” said Laurie Barr of Save Our Streams PA, an environmental group that raises awareness about abandoned wells. “They need greater oversight and they need guidance.”

Barr gave a presentation on how the Department of Environmental Protection has handled federal well-plugging money hosted by the Better Path Coalition, which advocates for renewable energy.

Pennsylvania received about $25 million through the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to plug abandoned wells, which are oil and gas wells that haven’t been operated in 12 months but aren’t classified as inactive. When it’s not clear who owns an abandoned well, it’s called an orphan well. The money was part of an initial $560 million fund announced in August for 24 states to plug 10,000 wells, 50 of them in the commonwealth.

The numbers vary, but the Department of Interior estimates about 129,000 orphan wells exist nationally. The total number of abandoned wells in Pennsylvania, though, dwarfs that.

The DEP estimates about 200,000 undocumented abandoned and orphan wells are scattered across the commonwealth, in addition to 160,000 identified abandoned wells.

Barr cited research that puts the number at close to 800,000 abandoned wells.

“The vast majority of these wells were drilled prior to well permitting requirements and remain unaccounted for, and we call these lost wells,” Barr said.

Those wells are neither cheap nor easy to plug. Previously, the commonwealth estimated it would cost taxpayers $1.8 billion to plug 27,000 wells.

To plug those wells, more money is expected for the future. Over the next decade, Pennsylvania could receive $300 million, potentially $400 million for plugging abandoned wells, Barr noted.

Knowing which wells are getting plugged, their condition, and how effectively the money is being spent, however, has been difficult.

“There’s 400 wells on this list; I’ve been going down the list and matching the wells on the list with (DEP) inspection reports,” Barr said. “It’s been taking a lot of time, I think I got about 100 done. Of those 100, I’ve found many, many wells that they couldn’t locate and that have been plugged…it really should be, the process should be stalled and they really should be doing an audit of these wells and making sure they even exist.”

She pointed to one contract to plug 15 wells in McKean County’s Otto Township for $1.3 million; the contract included few details about the wells or their location, making it difficult for the public to evaluate the site’s remediation. The wells may also have an identifiable owner attached.

Some of those issues may be a result of federal requirements: the money was meant to be committed quickly to produce results. When that happens, accountability and transparency requirements might fall by the wayside.
“They rushed to put these contracts together, and they’re very large,” Barr said. “People can’t — they’re all on private property, so we can’t see where the money is being used … another issue is they’re not taking pictures of the wells ahead of time and they’re not checking for combustible gas during inspections.”

Barr wants to see an audit of the DEP abandoned wells list and to connect wells to their inspection reports. She also advocated for officials to inspect the well before and after plugging, with photos of the well, location data, and other information for transparency. She also wanted more information and cost details on plugging contracts.

“We should be able to see pictures of (the wells) and know that the money is being used for some good,” Barr said.

The Department of Environmental Protection did not respond to a request for comment before publication, due to the agency’s focus on the train derailment in East Palestine.