The hazardous air pollutants produced by active oil and gas wells have long held the spotlight for scientists and public health agencies, and for good reason. But a recent study out of Western Pennsylvania is highlighting a previously overlooked threat to residents of our nation’s fossil fuel producing regions: The three million abandoned oil and gas wells across the country.
Researchers with PSE Healthy Energy measured both the emission rates and the concentrations of harmful volatile organic compounds coming from abandoned wells in the Marcellus Shale in the Northeast, the nation’s largest gas field, and found the majority of these abandoned sites were releasing huge concentrations of benzene — a known carcinogen.
After testing benzene levels at 48 abandoned sites, researchers found concentrations as high as 250 parts per million. To give you a bit of context, that’s 250,000 times the California safety threshold, which is widely regarded as the gold standard.
And to make matters worse, the World Health Organization has concluded that no safe exposure to benzene exists.
SEEC Member Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20) has had a pulse on this issue for the last two years. That’s why back in 2021, he introduced legislation to prohibit new oil and gas leases on federal lands with high concentration of existing orphaned oil and gas wells.
Now, under the Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden is not only directing a $25 million grant directed to oil cleanup in Texas — this month, the Interior Department also announced that $63.8 million from the Inflation Reduction Act will be directed to plugging or remediating orphaned oil and gas wells on public lands in 14 other states.
John, these orphaned wells are a massive public health crisis in the making. That’s we need to ensure every state has a champion in Congress like Rep. Castro to deliver funds to plug these orphaned wells and stop the spew of toxic pollutants in its tracks.
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