Statement: Bill to Clean Up Abandoned Oil and Gas Wells Would Create Jobs and Reduce Pollution

May 27, 2021 -- Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández’s Orphaned Well Cleanup and Jobs Act of 2021 is a dynamic bill that would stimulate rural economies, create jobs, and cut down on pollution. The bill would help clean up state, private, public, and Tribal lands while also combatting the climate crisis. Passing out of  the House Natural Resources Committee this week, it now heads to the House floor.  

According to the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), there are nearly 57,000 orphaned wells on Tribal, state, and private lands. These abandoned wells leak methane, contaminate groundwater, and create safety risks for our communities. With no responsible party for cleanup because of insufficient reclamation bond amounts that almost always fall short of covering cleanup costs, they have been a consistent problem for decades.  

Congresswoman Leger Fernández’s Orphaned Well Cleanup and Jobs Act of 2021 would lay the groundwork to identify, plug, and reclaim orphaned wells, administer grant programming to provide funds to states and Tribes to plug and reclaim wells, and strengthen federal oil and gas bonding rules so that oil and gas companies pay for plugging and reclamation costs as opposed to leaving taxpayers on the hook for cleanup.  

This legislation aligns with the goals of President Biden’s administration to clean up abandoned mines and orphaned oil and gas wells, and would facilitate a just transition for fossil fuel communities by creating jobs that in the oil and gas workforce, and would also stimulate rural economies and cut down on pollution. 

HECHO supports this bill, and thanks Congresswoman Leger Fernández for tackling this growing crisis.