Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection supports work of national lab research on gas, oil wells

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently released a letter supporting ongoing research performed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), the U.S. Department of Energy DOE national laboratory regarding gas and oil wells.

Researchers are working to develop reliable, cost-effective technologies to permanently plug abandoned or orphaned oil and gas wells emitting methane.

“In Pennsylvania, wells that are not properly plugged accounted for more than a third of confirmed stray gas migration incidents, emitting methane into the atmosphere, drinking water supplies, homes, and other structures,” Eilis Rosenbaum, a NETL engineer, said. “It’s important that we get this right and work with the Pennsylvania and other stakeholders to modify our materials and methods to increase plugging effectiveness.”

Cement has traditionally been used to plug wells. The researchers are focusing on using bentonite, a natural clay, in plugging.

Non-cement materials are less expensive than cement and avoid the carbon dioxide emitted by cement kilns.

The team issued recommendations for new procedures and Pennsylvania code updates for plugging oil and gas wells.

Rosenbaum’s team includes two members from the University of Pittsburgh.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, there are more than 2.1 million unplugged, abandoned wells in the country. The Biden Administration’s plan to address climate change includes plugging old wells.