The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources announces a 25-million-dollar grant from the federal government that will go towards cleaning up abandoned wells. DNR spokesperson Patrick Courreges said they can begin spending the money on October 1st.
“We’re hoping to double what we normally do in a year which is about 120 to 200. We’re hoping to knock out 400 to 700 if everything goes really well,” Courreges said.
DNR says Louisiana’s orphaned well count is around 45 hundred. That number has grown considerably in recent years due to operators going out of business or abandoning the site due to state regulations.
Courreges saidthe federal funding comes from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 and the federal government has indicated states will receive additional funding in the coming months.
“There’s supposed to be at least two more phases of funding coming. They can help us take a bigger bite and turn the clock back on how much of a backlog we’re dealing with,” Courreges said.
Most of the orphaned wells are in north Louisiana with 31 hundred of the 45-hundred current abandoned well sites in the Shreveport and Monroe areas. Courreges said these wells become an environmental hazard over time.
“If the well starts leaking you got an issue especially if someone isn’t around it much and see that it’s leaking or see that it’s emitting methane,” Courreges said.
DNR is seeking qualified contractors to plug, cap, and reclaim these orphaned wells.
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