The federal government is sending Louisiana 111-million dollars to plug and restore abandoned oil and gas wells. The money comes from the one-trillion dollar infrastructure bill and the first allocation is for 47-million dollars. Senator Bill Cassidy says he’s heard from communities across Louisiana about the environmental and safety hazards of orphan wells.
“That’s why I made it a priority to include it in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill,” said Cassidy.
Many say why don’t oil companies pay to clean up abandoned wells. Cassidy says in many cases the wells were last owned by a company that’s now out of business or it’s hard to determine ownership of that well.
“And so there is a whole group of these wells which are orphaned and which there is no clearly established line of ownership and therefore no one to go back to and say you must pay for it,” said Cassidy.
The state Department of Natural Resources estimates there are 46-hundred abandoned wells in Louisiana and cleanup is likely to cost 400-million dollars. Cassidy says the 111-million dollars for orphan well restoration will create jobs and make Louisiana a cleaner place to live.
“It continues to release pollutants into the atmosphere or perhaps even to the ground around it, so in my mind let’s just get it done,” said Cassidy.
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