Ohio gets millions from the feds to plug abandoned oil, natural gas wells

Ohio is getting another chunk of money from the Biden administration to clean up and plug abandoned oil and natural gas wells that plague the state's countryside.

The Interior Department has awarded the state $57.25 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the federal law passed in 2021 that commits $1.2 trillion to fix roads and bridges, expand internet access, provide access to clean water, improve ports, invest in public transportation and other purposes. The law provides $16 billion to address what the Biden administration calls legacy pollution by reclaiming abandoned coal mines and plugging orphaned wells.

This round of funding included $126.7 million that went to Ohio and four other states: Alaska, New York, Indiana and Arizona.

The Interior Department says the money will plug nearly 600 wells in the states and inventory additional undocumented abandoned wells to prepare for future plugging activities.

A year ago, the state received $63.8 million to clean up 29 wells in Wayne National Forest, and in '22, the state was awarded $25 million.

In 2021, the state said it documented 20,000 orphan wells in a report to the Interior Department. The Wayne National Forest is home to at least 200 abandoned oil and gas wells in southeast Ohio that date to the 1800s.

"Records indicate that likely thousands more undocumented wells exist in Ohio," department spokeswoman Karina Cheung said. "Ohio is actively locating orphan wells via drone-based magnetometers and field reconnaissance efforts."

A Columbus Dispatch story from two years ago said the state has potentially 100,000 abandoned oil and gas wells and that 250,000 wells have been drilled in the state.

The department is giving priority to plugging wells that pose the most risk to public health and the environment, she said.

"Some of these wells can be more challenging and take more time and resources to plug compared to more shallow wells," she said.

While a long way to go, the state has been to increase the number of wells that it has been able to plug in recent years.

Of the 3,345 wells that have been plugged since 1978, 1,291 have happened since 2018, according to the department. In the state's just completed fiscal year, it the department's Division of Oil & Gas Resources Management's Orphan Well program contracted to have 481 wells plugged and 355 wells were plugged.

A Columbus Dispatch story from two years said the state has potentially 100,000 abandoned oil and gas wells and that 250,000 wells have been drilled in the state.

"The division will use this money to plug as many orphan wells as possible as efficiently as possible to protect human health, safety, and the environment," Cheung said.

mawilliams@dispatch.com

@BizMarkWilliams