US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland on 10 January issued an order to establish an office to ensure efficient use of the Biden administration's $4.7 billion investment in the cleanup of abandoned oil and gas wells.
The Orphaned Wells Program Office will be led by Kimbra Davis, who has worked at the Interior Department since 2009. Orphaned oil and gas wells are those that generally have been abandoned and are no longer producing.
"The Department is standing up a new office to support states, tribes and federal land managers as they close and remediate orphaned oil and gas wells that pose environmental hazards to communities across the country," Haaland said in a statement.
Well-plugging efforts are part of President Joe Biden's goal to reduce climate-warming methane emissions, create jobs, and address pollution in communities affected by infrastructure left behind after more than a century of oil and gas drilling.