The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has begun work on restoring orphaned wells across the state. Louisiana received $25 million in funding as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs act in October of 2022. After contractors were selected work began in mid-January, and 2022 well sites have been plugged since then. DNR spokesperson Patrick Courreges said the goal is to use the funding as efficiently as possible.
“One, we want to make sure we don’t miss a penny of this, that we’re getting every dollar we can put toward plugging as many wells as we can, and two, we’re doing it the right way. We’re making sure we’re meeting all the guidelines they put on us because we don’t want to have to give it back either.”
The DNR is still ramping up operations with seven crews operating now and ten more to become available in the next month. There are roughly 4,500 orphaned well sites in Louisiana, and Courreges said they can pose a significant environmental risk.
“You have a wellhead that has a penetration that runs all the way from the surface through underground sources of drinking water down to a zone beneath the earth where you have hydrocarbons, methane and oil and very, very concentrated brine.”
More than 3,100 of all the state’s orphaned well sites are located in the Office of Conservation’s Shreveport and Monroe districts. Courreges hoped contractors can work at double the normal rate and restore 400-500 sites before the funding deadline in October of this year. Courreges said much of the work is being done in north Louisiana.
“Just because of the time constraints, we’re focused on north Louisiana because the wells tend to be smaller, shallower, and closer together. So you cut costs on mobilization, and it doesn’t take nearly as long to plug them for the most part.”
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