On September 22, the Well Done Foundation announced it is working with Seneca Resources on the Foundation's first eastern U.S. orphaned gas well plugging project in Bradford, McKean County.

The project will begin on September 28 in Bradford on property owned by the Daugherty family.

Bradford-based Dallas-Morris Drilling Inc., a fourth-generation family-owned oil and gas services company based in Bradford, will be plugging the well.

“This legacy well is over a century old and sits literally in the backyard of the Daugherty family home in Bradford proper,” said Curtis Shuck, Chairman of WDF. “We’re very excited to be kicking off our ‘one well at a time’ programmatic approach in Pennsylvania and plugging this first well with sponsorship from Seneca.”

“Seneca is excited to sponsor this important project, which further exemplifies our dedication to sustainability and community engagement,” added Justin Loweth, President of Seneca.  “We applaud the WDF’s mission to reduce emissions and environmental impacts through the plugging of abandoned wells.”

The “Well Done Process” is a multi-step initiative built upon public and private partnerships.  WDF identifies high-emitting orphaned and abandoned oil or gas wells and then qualifies them through a rigorous measurement and monitoring regiment.

Through partnerships with regulatory bodies and landowners, WDF develops a plan to plug the wells and restore impacted surface areas. Funding for each project is made possible through corporate or individual sponsorships.

WDF initiated talks with the State of Pennsylvania earlier this year and has received the full support of the Department of Environmental Protection.

“Pennsylvania has a significant backlog of orphaned and abandoned wells that it is working to address,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “Having stewards like the Well Done Foundation helps us accelerate well plugging, ridding our state of toxic and harmful unplugged orphaned and abandoned wells.”

The Well Done Foundation has also partnered with the Innovation Park at Pennsylvania State University, providing office space and serving as WDF's Pennsylvania headquarters.

Click Here for information on projects in Pennsylvania.

Formed in 2019, the Well Done Foundation enables the oil and gas industry to partner with the conservation community to create an alternative pathway to success that benefits all.

The Well Done Process, which does not include any public funding, creates a strategic partnership among regulators, surface owners and adoptive parties, leading to a safe and seamless system that provides cost-effective and lasting results that improve the environment while working with the industry in a transparent structure that delivers value to its Triple Bottom Line: community partnerships (people), environmental responsibility (planet), and economic benefits (profit).

The Well Done Foundation works with its partners to transition the orphaned well sites into their next levels of service.

For more information, visit the Well Done Foundation website.

Visit DEP’s Abandoned and Orphan Well Program webpage to learn more about the up to 560,000 orphan and abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania.

Related Articles:

-- Environmental Groups Submit Rulemaking Petitions To Environmental Quality Board Asking For Full-Cost Bonding For Oil & Gas Well Plugging

-- More Than 60 Environmental Groups, Green Party Of PA Oppose Road Dumping Of Oil & Gas Drilling Wastewater On Rural PA Roads

[Posted: September 23, 2021]

9/27/2021