The US Department of the Interior announced a $109.6 million investment through the Investing in America agenda to put people to work plugging, remediating, and reclaiming orphaned oil and gas wells in national parks, national forests, and national wildlife refuges and on other public lands and waters. Five federal agencies within the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture will address 484 high-priority polluting wells that pose threats to human health and safety, the climate, and wildlife. The announcement brings the total distributed to address orphaned wells on federal lands to $250 million, the entirety of the funding made available in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for work on federal lands.
This funding is part of an overall historic $4.7 billion investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to address orphaned oil and gas wells across the nation that aims to create good-paying union jobs, catalyze economic growth and revitalization, improve public health and safety, and reduce harmful methane leaks. Methane pollution from many of these unplugged wells is a serious safety hazard and a significant driver of climate change, with methane being more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
“Toxic orphaned wells pose a significant threat to American communities and our environment,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “I’ve seen firsthand how orphaned oil and gas wells left behind by extractive industries lead to hazardous pollution, water contamination, and safety hazards. This crucial funding reflects President Biden’s vision for a cleaner, safer, and more equitable future. It’s a win-win-win—reducing harmful methane emissions, restoring our treasured landscapes, and creating good-paying jobs.”
The allocation is in addition to $4.3 billion to plug orphaned wells on state and private lands and $150 million for clean-up on Tribal lands. It is estimated that the money distributed for public lands will plug more than 1,000 orphaned wells. To date, 199 of these orphaned wells have been plugged.
The $109.6 million investment will fund cleanup efforts across 13 states and the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, covering a diverse array of projects, including plugging, reclamation, methane measurement, and infrastructure removal at various national parks, wildlife refuges, national forests, and offshore oilfield locations (Table 1).
| Table 1—FY25 Federal Orphaned Well Projects by Agency and State | |||
Agency | State/Region | Number of Wells | Total Amount |
| Bureau of Land Management | Ohio Pennsylvania West Virginia Wyoming | 39 | $11,775,000 |
| Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement | Gulf of Mexico Region – Grand Isle 22 Area Gulf of Mexico Region – High Island Area Gulf of Mexico Region – South Timbalier 54/67 Area Gulf of Mexico Region – West Delta Area | 20 | $30,621,527 |
| US Fish and Wildlife Service | Louisiana Michigan Oregon Montana Oklahoma Texas | 288 | $17,900,158 |
| National Park Service | Louisiana Ohio Tennessee Texas | 24 | $13,280,000 |
| US Forest Service | Kentucky Pennsylvania | 113 | $16,808,945 |
| Total | 484 | $90,385,630* | |
| *Does not include $19,186,348 in administrative and contingency funding | |||