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Thank you for running an article on Pennsylvania’s abandoned wells.
The story reported that there are about 200,000 orphaned and abandoned
wells. Actually, about 184,000 are known to exist, but estimates put the
total number as high as 325,000. By the Department of Environmental
Protection’s own admission, it would take 160 years to cap the known
wells, something they reported prior to the start of Marcellus drilling
in Pennsylvania.
Taxpayers should know that some of their money goes to support
capping of wells via the Growing Greener program. Drilling permit fees
and permit violation fines are also used to fund well plugging.
Volunteers from Save Our Streams PA.org began a scavenger hunt last
November to locate the wells, photograph them, and use GPS to mark
their locations on a Google map. The methane detectors they use indicate
that many of the wells are still leaking, something we can ill-afford
at a time when we are already seeing extreme weather conditions that
result from raising the earth’s temperature. Methane is a more efficient
greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. In addition, these wells that
perforate Pennsylvania are creating pathways for methane migration from
Marcellus wells.
We can’t afford to wait 160 years or more.
KAREN FERIDUN
Founder, Berks Gas Truth
Founder, Berks Gas Truth
Kutztown
