ABANDONED 2010 DOWNLOAD

Groundwater – old wells may have degraded well casing or cement that can allow oil, gas, or salty water to leak into freshwater aquifers.

Unplugged or poorly plugged wells may affect:

Orphaned wells are often abandoned without any plugging or cleanup, but even plugged wells may leak, especially those plugged in the past, when plugging procedures were less rigorous and used less durable materials. 5 Risks to Groundwater, Air, and the Surface Environment Inoperable pumpjack at an abandoned well in Texas. Older wells, especially those drilled before the 1950s, are particularly likely to have been improperly abandoned and poorly documented. since 1859, 6 and their history is not always well documented.

The exact number is not known: some 3.7 million wells have been drilled in the U.S. These efforts are ongoing, and many orphaned wells have yet to be properly plugged. 4 Since then, tens of thousands of orphaned wells have been plugged by state and federal regulators, as well as some voluntary industry programs. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 200,000 of 1.2 million abandoned wells may not have been properly plugged. 3 This is more common when oil prices fall rapidly, making many wells uneconomical, as in the 1980s oil glut, the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2014 downturn. However, there are many cases in which wells are not properly plugged before being abandoned, especially if the well operator goes bankrupt, leaving its wells “orphaned”. State or federal regulators define specific plugging procedures depending on the local conditions and risks, and may monitor the plugging operation. This generally prevents contamination of groundwater and leaks at the surface. 2 Usually, cement is pumped into the well to fill at least the top and bottom portions of the well and any parts where oil, gas, or water may leak into or out of the well. 1 When a well reaches the end of its productive life, or if it fails to find economic quantities of oil or gas, the well operator is required by regulators to remove all equipment and plug the well to prevent leaks. In 2017, there were one million active oil and gas wells in the United States.

ABANDONED 2010 DOWNLOAD

Mandler for AGI, 2018 Download Print Version Introduction

Abandoned 2010