PA Environment Digest

The Department of Environmental Protection reported this week the agency successfully plugged 259 abandoned oil and gas wells in 2009.

"Abandoned wells create passageways for pollution to enter and contaminate drinking water. They also can allow natural gas to enter water supplies or build up in a home, which can create a dangerous enclosed space," said DEP Secretary John Hanger. "Modern regulations require that wells be cased properly during use and sealed once they are taken out of service, but unfortunately, there are thousands of wells that were simply abandoned before people understood the dangers."

The 259 wells addressed in 2009 are located in the western and north-central regions of the state, and were discovered by department inspectors and local citizens who work collaboratively to locate and map wells in the region.

Many of the wells were leaking oil, acid mine drainage or natural gas. These wells are not related to current oil and natural gas drilling activities.

Abandoned wells can be found in many settings from residential backyards to remote hillsides. Well-plugging costs can vary depending on terrain and the age and depth of the well. In most cases, once DEP receives landowner permission, work crews will clear a site and clean or remove the old well. After any old well casings are removed and the well bore is clear, the well is filled with grout or cement and other fill materials.

Pennsylvania has the highest number of abandoned wells in the Appalachian region and is one of the top five states nationally. The department has documented more than 8,600 wells throughout the state that were abandoned prior to passage of modern oil and gas drilling regulations.

Since the first commercial oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania in 1859, DEP estimates as many as 350,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled in the state, with many of those wells having been abandoned without proper plugging.

Funding for Pennsylvania's Abandoned and Orphan Well Plugging Program comes from surcharges on well-drilling permits issued in Pennsylvania and from the Growing Greener program.

In the first three years of the Growing Greener Program, an average of 445 abandoned wells were plugged each year. Funding for the Growing Greener Program runs out this year.

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