"The National Park Service has started closing orphaned wells using money provided under legislation signed by President Biden."
"A century after oil barons scoured Texas for prime plots from which to extract black gold, another boom is underway: the plugging of thousands of abandoned oil wells. It’s an oil rush in reverse, spurred by the promise of federal money.
In 2021, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which released $4.7 billion to states and federal agencies for plugging fallow oil and gas projects known as “orphan wells” if they lacked an owner.
“There has never been federal money made available to plug these wells,” said Adam Peltz, a lawyer with the Environmental Defense Fund, an advocacy group."
Will Peischel reports for the New York Times February 22, 2023.
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