23-02-04 Pennsylvania's legacy as the birthplace of the nation's oil industry and as an early, major producer of natural gas dating back to the late 19th century has left another legacy: some 8,800 known orphaned and abandoned oil and natural gas wells.
Today, those wells represent potential air, water and land environmental hazards, but also safety risks to people. Old wells continue to be found sticking out of the ground near homes, businesses, along nature trails, even near schools.

For the last 20 years, the state has used a surcharge on permit application fees for new oil and gas wells to help fund the plugging of so-called orphan wells, or wells for which an owner cannot be determined. State Secretary of Environmental Protection Kathleen A. McGinty visited three orphaned wells in Murrysville, one of which has been plugged and two that are slated to be filled with cement within the next few weeks.
Funding for plugging those three, along with nine more nearby in Allegheny, Penn and North Huntingdon townships, is part of the state's Growing Greener project, a $ 650 mm, five-year fund to be used for abandoned mine and oil and natural gas well reclamation.

According to the DEP, there are 64 wells in Allegheny County, 43 in Westmoreland County and five each in Indiana and Fayette counties among the 8,800 wells state-wide identified as abandoned or orphaned that eventually will be sealed. A total of 461 wells state-wide will be plugged this year alone.
Growing Greener is growing short of funds, however, with just $ 2 mm remaining. McGinty praised Gov. Ed Rendell's proposed state budget, which includes an $ 80 mm Growing Greener II, a portion of which would be used to plug remaining abandoned and orphaned wells.
"These wells are not to be taken lightly," McGinty said. "They obviously impact the environment, the land, air and water, but almost every year we have somewhere a drinking well exploding." Natural gas, which follows the path of least resistance, can follow a water line into a home, where a spark can cause a disaster, she said.

The wells examined are being plugged by Hydrocarbon Well Services, of Buckhannon, West Virginia, at a cost of $ 323,760. President Al Sorcan said his company is getting more regional work from state governments, which are becoming more active in plugging abandoned wells.
"In this area, it generally takes from three weeks to three months to plug one well," said Vince Straub, an oil and gas inspector with the DEP's Division of Subsurface Activities. "A ballpark cost per well in this area is $ 25,000, and the average depth of the well to be plugged is about 2,500 feet."