State Sens. Gene Yaw (R-Bradford) and Camera Bartolotta (R-Greene/Washington) plan to introduce legislation designed to improve the abandoned and orphaned oil and gas well plugging process.
If the depth of orphaned and abandoned wells cannot be determined, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection requirements specify the wells must be plugged to an identified attainable bottom approved by the department. The department approves what it considers to be a reasonable effort to clean out wells to determine the attainable bottom.
“Our legislation will provide consistency in determining what a reasonable effort is when plugging to the attainable bottom, leading to increased predictability and improved utilization of orphaned and abandoned well plugging funds,” the senators said in a memo entitled Clarifying Reasonable Effort for Well Plugging.
Plugging companies pursue opportunities in Ohio and West Virginia, the senators said, as a result of the ambiguity and uncertainty as other states have more predictable processes for obtaining state agency approval.
The federal government will provide Pennsylvania with up to $400 million to plug legacy wells. The goal of the legislation is to ensure funds will be utilized in the most efficient manner.
There are up to 350,000 abandoned and orphaned wells in Pennsylvania, according to estimates.