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Recently-abandoned oil and gas wells in Adams County, Colorado are emitting one thousand times more methane than older orphaned wells. Colorado State University researchers measured methane emissions from 108 plugged wells and 226 abandoned but unplugged wells across the state, the Colorado Sun reports. The fully plugged wells weren't leaking methane—even ones that were plugged as far back as 1906.
Oil wells that had recently stopped production but weren't fully plugged, also known as "shut-in" wells, were the biggest emitters—releasing 3,640 grams of methane per hour, compared to 3.6 grams per hour for other non-producing orphan wells.
The methane pollution from these wells highlights the risks of not requiring oil and gas companies to post sufficient bonds to cover their cleanup costs.
“Shut-in wells are a potentially big risk, for they aren’t plugged and they aren’t serviced,” said CSU researcher Stuart Riddick. “In some cases, these wells were not abandoned because they were played out, but because the owner ran into operating problems or went bankrupt.”
The Sun reports that the situation in Adams County was exacerbated after a broken gathering line caused a home explosion in 2017, killing two people. Anadarko Petroleum then shut down its aging network of natural gas collection pipelines. Of the 298 orphan wells in Adams County, three quarters of them were on the Anadarko pipeline network.
Swimming upstream
Improving passage and connectivity for fish and other aquatic and terrestrial species is crucial to ensuring Western fish and wildlife can survive and thrive. While the solution is often as straightforward as replacing culverts with fish-friendly structures, funding for these projects can be hard to come by. Fortunately, Congress has made several recent investments in fish passage programs. In a new blog post, Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Rachael Hamby highlights where some of these dollars are beginning to hit the ground in Western states.
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