WHEELING, W.Va. — Governor Patrick Morrisey told a gathering at Wheeling’s Heritage Point Thursday new legislation will allow for more progress in capping and plugging more than 21,000 abandoned and orphaned gas and oil wells in West Virginia.
“Abandoned and orphaned wells can pose a significant threat and safety risk and potentially impact surface and ground water, drinking water sources, land, and air quality. Plugging these wells safely and effectively is critical,” said the Governor.
Morrisey ceremonially signed House Bill 3336 which allows for more flexibility in how operators and the Department of Environmental Protection can cap those wells, especially the older ones. The previous statute required all of a well’s old infrastructure to be removed, even when it was severely deteriorated. The removal posed even more harm to the environment. Under the new law, operators will be allowed to pierce the well casing and fill it with cement without the removal of the central casing. The process will become much easier and cheaper to allow for more and more of the older wells to be capped.
“Quite frankly the one size fits all approach can be costly and very time consuming in achieving the goal and it’s often not feasible in some of the older and more deteriorated wells,” Morrisey said.
State Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Harold Ward agreed the new law will help accelerate the capping of those wells.
“Since 2022, DEP has been able to orchestrate abandonment of 275 wells in the last three years. That’s marked improvement and those numbers are significant, but with 21,000 out there, we still have a lot of work to do,” said Ward.
As for the new process, Ward was also on board.
“It’s simply not a controversial process. This is the right thing to do and the right way to do it,” he said.
Delegate Mark Zatezalo of Hancock County was a lead sponsor on the bill. He’s formerly worked in the oil and gas industry and understands the critical nature of all sides of the problem.
“It was very heartening to me to see industry and the DEP get together and come up with a method that is actually more efficient and protects ground water,” he said.
Prior to 2022, the cost of plugging the wells under the old rules was so steep , Ward indicated they rarely capped more than one or two wells in the state in a year. Officials hope the new rules will free up more opportunity to put a dent in the 21,000 abandoned wells across the state’s landscape.