Arkansas receives $5.59 million from the Department of the Interior to plug orphaned oil and gas wells

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The U.S. Department of the Interior is granting funds to Arkansas to address pollution from abandoned well sites.

The department announced Thursday that it is granting the Natural State $5.59 million to plug and reclaim approximately 274 orphaned oil and gas well sites across the state. Department officials said the funding would prevent methane leaks while protecting public health and providing jobs.

The program includes detecting and measuring the amount of methane gas leaks and screening for ground and surface water impacts. Interior Department officials said the program would prioritize orphaned wells near disadvantaged communities.

An Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission spokesperson said most of the wells cited in the grant are near Stephens in Columbia and Ouachita counties in southwest Arkansas. They said that funding would allow contractors to plug, replug, cut and cap wells, remove associated equipment and debris, and generally abate the well and production site as part of the commission’s Abandoned and Orphan Well Program.

The AOGC spokesperson said that funding for well capping not covered by federal grants comes from annual fees paid by operators of liquid hydrocarbon wells and transfers from other commission line funds.

The award announced Thursday is part of a $30.59 million funding Arkansas and Louisiana, part of $660 million in grant funding being released on a rolling basis by the Biden administration under its Justice40 Initiative. Arkansas had received $5 million earlier in the program to plug 57 wells.

Officials said more than 7,700 orphaned wells have been plugged nationally since the program’s onset.

from KARK https://ift.tt/1PGTOgH