TOPEKA — The bipartisan federal infrastructure law appropriated $58.6 million to cap more than 5,400 oil and gas wells in Kansas that have been abandoned by owners and threaten water supplies or pose other environmental hazards.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat serving the Third District in eastern Kansas, said the state had thousands of wells polluting public spaces, recreational areas or private property.
The federal law included aid to deal with an estimated 5,400 orphan wells in Kansas, Davids said. She said the list of defunct wells included 34 in Johnson County and at least 375 in Miami County. In Kansas, 14 well sites are listed as high-priority projects due to urgent threats to public water supplies.
“Abandoned oil and gas wells pose a serious threat to the health and well-being of communities across Kansas, with the vast majority of these sites in the eastern part of our state,” said Davids, who serves on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Dwight Keen, chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission, said infusion of federal investment in abandon well remediation would accelerate well-plugging efforts in Kansas and help protect freshwater resources in the state. The KCC has regulatory responsibilities for oil and gas wells.
“Addressing the abandoned-well issue in Kansas is critical to our environmental protection mission,” Keen said. “Given the potential costs associated with plugging abandoned oil and gas wells, we appreciate the availability of federal funds to compliment the state’s well-plugging fund.”
Overall, the legislation adopted by Congress and signed by President Joe Biden earmarked $4.7 billion for dealing with orphan oil and gas wells.
The initial phase of the program allocated $1.15 billion for abandoned wells in Kansas and 25 other states. Each state was eligible for $25 million in federal grants, with opportunity to apply for additional aid.
An estimated 81,000 abandoned drilling sites in the United States leak pollution and emit methane gas into the environment. About 9 million Americans live within one mile of these sites.
