Have you ever considered the rich history of your home and the land it stands on? If you’re a resident of northwestern Pennsylvania, your property likely has a story to tell that involves oil and gas development at some point.

Since Drake drilled the first commercial U.S. oil well in Titusville in 1859, our area has been a bustling oil and gas development hub.

Thousands of wells have been drilled and produced, significantly shaping the landscape and economy of our region. However, most of these wells were drilled before Pennsylvania implemented industry regulations, leading to a staggering number of unregistered and improperly decommissioned wells across the Commonwealth.

As a geologist, I’ve encountered numerous abandoned oil and gas wells in northwestern Pennsylvania. These wells are not just scattered in fields or dense woods, but also in unexpected places like creeks, next to barns, and even next to homes. They’re not limited to rural areas but are also found in places like Warren, Bradford, Meadville, and Erie. Once robust structures, these wells have succumbed to our humid continental climate and are now mere rusty remnants. Sometimes, wellheads are still visible, but more often, all that remains are pipes jutting out from the ground or open holes in the earth, serving as a stark reminder of our industrial past.

The media has published so much about abandoned oil and gas wells that it seems like this is brand-new news. This is not the case. So many wells were drilled and abandoned before we were born. The parties who drilled and/or had fiscal responsibility for many of the abandoned wells out there are no longer around.

Abandoned wells pose a significant and urgent environmental threat, potentially releasing natural gas into the atmosphere. However, here in northwest Pennsylvania, the more pressing concern is their immediate and ongoing impact on groundwater quality. These wells can serve as a direct and immediate pathway for brine from deep underground or surface pollution to contaminate our drinking water aquifers.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that big companies left all the oil and gas wells for us to remove and clean up. But as we know, life is complicated, and there is usually no simple explanation for complex issues.

Before the development of environmental regulations in the mid to late 20th century, one could walk away from a broken or otherwise unusable piece of equipment or a structure without proper decommissioning. We’ve grown accustomed to seeing these old things. How many dilapidated barns and silos or old vehicles did you pass in your travels over the last few weeks? What about that old well that has been in your field for as long as you can remember, and no one has done anything with it?

Modern oil and gas regulations require that operators plug wells that are no longer producing and restore the environment around each well site to their original conditions. Operators must supply financial assurances in the form of bonds to the Commonwealth to guarantee that they will act as expected and required. Whether current regulations are sufficient to prevent future wells from being abandoned is a conversation for another time.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) maintains a database of all oil and gas wells drilled across the Commonwealth. The database is incomplete because the number

of wells drilled before registration is estimated to be in the tens of thousands. The public can access this database through the PADEP website. If you know of a well that isn’t on the database, you can report it to PADEP.

In November 2021, President Biden signed the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) into law. The IIJA allocates more than $1 trillion to advance infrastructure projects nationwide. This legislation can potentially provide approximately $400 million to Pennsylvania over the next ten years to plug abandoned oil and gas wells across the Commonwealth.

PADEP is prioritizing and plugging wells using Federal and State funding based on several factors, including environmental threats and proximity to people. Additionally, in response to the passage of Acts 96 and 136, PADEP is creating an Orphan Well Plugging Grant Program that will soon be available to landowners to provide funding for a qualified well plugger to plug eligible wells on their properties.

Naturally, questions and concerns arise when considering where to start when you suspect an abandoned oil and gas well on your property. Fortunately, there are resources available to landowners in the region. PADEP and Penn State Extension have resources available to landowners who have questions about abandoned wells on their properties. Local oil and gas service companies, who plug wells for a living, may also be a helpful resource.

I encourage you to take the first step in addressing your property’s abandoned oil and gas infrastructure. Your grandchildren and their children will thank you.

Amanda Veazey is a geologist and vice president with CSR Services, LLC in Crawford County.