""It’s a green light for the conventional oil and gas industry to continue to do what they’ve done, which is abandon these wells whenever they feel like it.""
"An estimated 200,000 abandoned oil and gas wells pockmark Pennsylvania’s Appalachian plateaus and lush forests. These wells, which once produced oil and gas but have since been abandoned by their operators, spew methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and threaten the environment and public health when they leak toxic byproducts. Of the state’s approximately 100,000 active wells, many produce just a few barrels of oil and gas annually and are nearing the end of their lives. Fossil fuel companies are supposed to clean up these sites once they stop producing, but operators regularly shirk these obligations.
To prevent the backlog of abandoned wells from growing, Pennsylvania’s Environmental Quality Board and Department of Environmental Protection were beginning to examine ways to strengthen rules requiring companies to post bonds before drilling. These financial assurances can be claimed by the state if a company goes bankrupt or otherwise tries to get out of its environmental obligations. The idea is that even companies that skip town are still on the hook, and taxpayers don’t end up footing the bill.
Those efforts were put to an end last week, however, when Democratic Governor Tom Wolf failed to veto a bill that banned future increases in financial assurance amounts for conventional vertical wells (as opposed to fracking wells), for the next ten years. Wolf reportedly allowed the bill to pass as part of a deal with Republican lawmakers to secure additional education funding."
Naveena Sadasivam reports for Grist July 25, 2022.
SEE ALSO:
"Billions Spent on Abandoned Oil Wells Scratch at Ignored Problem" (Bloomberg Environment)
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