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DEP Finalizing First Bid Packages To Plug 249 Conventional Oil & Gas Wells Under New Federal Taxpayer Funded Well Plugging Program

On September 19, staff from the Department of Environmental Protection said they plan to finalize the first bid packages by the end of this week to plug 79 abandoned conventional oil and gas wells under the new taxpayer-funded well plugging program authorized under the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Five bid packages will be posted on the BidExpress.com website for potential contractors.

DEP Acting Secretary Ramez Ziadeh told the DEP Citizens Advisory Council Tuesday these contracts should allocate approximately $7.5 million of the anticipated $25 million initial federal grant funding.

In addition, DEP is working on finalizing invitation to bid packages that will allocate an additional $12 to $15 million to plug another 170 abandoned wells, Ziadeh said.

In addition, Jessica Shirley, DEP's Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator, said DEP hopes to issue the first Invitation to Qualify (ITQ) statements of work “soon” to pre-qualify contractors for work related to the new conventional well plugging program.

Ziadeh said this simplified contracting tool will allow DEP to issue purchase orders for services from pre-qualified contractors for up to $1 million per purchase order.

The first two categories will be on well plugging and responsible party due diligence investigations.

DEP held the last of seven workgroup meetings gathering input from stakeholders seeking to be involved in the new well plugging program. They started on August 23 and ended September 19. Read more here.

For more background on the new program, visit DEP’s Oil & Gas Infrastructure Investments And Jobs Act webpage.

New State Law May Block Funding

On September 19, the U.S. Department of the Interior notified the Department of Environmental Protection state legislation that became law in July may “preclude state compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act or the Build America, Buy American Act” under the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law conventional Oil and Gas Well Plugging Program.

As a result, the agency said it may restrict the awarding of Oil and Gas Well Plugging Grant funds to Pennsylvania. Read more here.

New Abandoned Wells

In the face of DEP’s efforts to ramp up its conventional oil and gas well plugging program, conventional oil and gas well drillers are abandoning their wells at a faster pace this year.

In July and August, DEP issued 108 notices of violation to conventional oil and gas operators for abandoning wells without plugging them and two notices of violation for the same offense to an unconventional shale gas driller, according to DEP’s Oil and Gas Program Compliance Database. Read more here.

That’s more NOVs for the same offense issued in the three months of the second quarter-- 82 conventional wells and 21 unconventional wells (total 103)-- and the three months of the first quarter-- 77 conventional wells and 8 unconventional wells (total 85). Read more here.

So far in 2022 a total of 267 notices of violation were issued for conventional wells and 34 for unconventional shale gas wells for abandoning without plugging them for a total of 298 wells. Read more here.

Pennsylvania taxpayers have now been saddled with at least $5.1 billion in oil and gas well plugging costs by the conventional oil and gas industry because they refused to take responsibility for cleaning up their own mess. Read more here.

Conventional Compliance Review

DEP was required to submit a report to Gov. Wolf’s Office on September 1 detailing the conventional oil and gas drilling industry’s compliance with environmental and regulatory requirements. Read more here.

The review was requested by the Governor after he allowed Republican legislation to become law in July banning any increase in conventional oil and gas well plugging bonding amounts to deter future well abandonments. Read more here.

The report is to include DEP’s recommendations for preventing new abandonments and encouraging compliance.

The new federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law well plugging program requires states to take steps to prevent new oil and gas well abandonments.

There is no word yet on whether the report and recommendations will be made public. Read more here.

NewsClips:

-- WESA: Global Leaders Meet In Pittsburgh In Hopes Of Charting A Clean Energy Future

-- Clean Energy Justice Convergence: Citizen Activist Events Related To Global Clean Energy Action Forum In Pittsburgh

Related Articles This Week:

-- Penn State Research Links Groundwater Contamination To Areas Of Unconventional Shale Gas And Conventional Oil And Gas Drilling [PaEN]

-- DEP Tells Citizens Advisory Council Road Dumping Conventional Oil & Gas Wastewater Still Does Not Meet Residual Waste Regulations; Remains Illegal [PaEN]

-- House Committee Fails To Address $70 Million In Penalties On Natural Gas Pipelines Or Real Concerns Of People Living Near Gas Production & Distribution Facilities [PaEN]

-- U.S. Dept. Of Interior Notified DEP A Republican Bill Allowed To Become Law In July May Block Funding For New Federal Conventional Oil & Gas Well Plugging Program [PaEN]

-- PA Environmental Council: Clean Hydrogen & Carbon Capture Can Be Part Of A Comprehensive Decarbonization Strategy: Responsibly Deployed With Environmental Integrity, Accountability And Equity [PaEN]