When old oil wells become 'orphans,' that's a problem - Consider This from NPR

Summary

Consider This from NPR: When Old Oil Wells Become 'Orphans,' That's a Problem
Release Date: July 11, 2025

Introduction to Orphan Wells

In the latest episode of NPR's Consider This, host Juana Summers sheds light on a pressing yet often overlooked environmental issue: orphan oil and gas wells. These are aging wells that have ceased production but lack responsible parties to properly seal them. With an estimated 1.5 million orphan wells across the United States, the episode delves into the environmental ramifications and the complex challenge of addressing this widespread problem.

Juana Summers [00:00]: "All across America, there are aging oil and gas wells no longer being used to extract oil or natural gas. A lot of them, and there are a lot of them don't have anyone on the hook to seal them up."

The Environmental Impact

Orphan wells pose significant environmental threats. Without proper sealing, these wells continue to leak greenhouse gases, particularly methane, and other harmful chemicals. These emissions contribute to climate change and can contaminate both groundwater and surface water, degrade soil quality, and harm surrounding ecosystems.

Juana Summers [00:01]: "Because they haven't been plugged, they're still leaking greenhouse gases and other chemicals into the atmosphere and into the land around them."

Searching for Orphan Wells: A Field Investigation

Engineer Dan Arthur, who consults with petroleum companies on environmental issues, takes NPR reporter Camila Domonoski on a quest to locate orphan wells in Oklahoma. Their fieldwork highlights the sheer number of these abandoned structures and the challenges in identifying and addressing them.

Dan Arthur [00:05]: "Nobody knows exactly how many orphan wells are out there, but there are lots of wells we do know about."

Case Study: Maria Burns in Ashland, Ohio

The episode features a poignant case study of Maria Burns, a 79-year-old resident of Ashland, Ohio. On her property lies an old natural gas well drilled in 1911 by oilman E.C. McManaway. Although the well was initially plugged in 1953, decades later, it began leaking, causing pregrowth of grass to fail and pine trees to die around her yard.

Maria Burns [Transcript]: "I remember because my sister and I were just little. And for decades, the plugged well was not a problem. But eventually those pine trees started dying."

Maria's experience underscores the long-term consequences of orphan wells and the difficulties faced by landowners in rectifying these issues without clear responsibility.

The Process and Costs of Plugging Wells

Addressing orphan wells is a technically challenging and costly endeavor. Amanda Visay, a vice president with CSR Services, explains the plugging process:

Drilling Out the Old Plug: The first step involves removing the existing cement plug, which can be time-consuming and complex, as seen with Maria's well where it took weeks.
Filling the Well: After removal, the well must be refilled from the bottom to the top to ensure it is securely sealed.
Restoration: Planting new vegetation helps restore the affected land.

The financial burden is substantial. Maria's well, combined with another in the contract, cost over $400,000 to plug.

Amanda Visay [00:30]: "This whole process is not cheap and depends on how complicated each well is to work with."

Ohio's Orphan Well Program

Mary Mertz, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, highlights Ohio's efforts to tackle the orphan well crisis. In fiscal year 2024, Ohio successfully plugged 353 wells, a significant increase compared to previous years. The state's program is notably funded by a fee on oil production, ensuring that the industry bears the cost of cleanup rather than taxpayers.

Mary Mertz [00:22]: "In fiscal year 24, we plugged 353 wells. And I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but she says it's a lot more than the state used to plug."

Ted Bettner, a senior researcher at the Ohio River Valley Institute, praises Ohio's approach while emphasizing the need for greater scale.

Ted Bettner [00:25]: "Ohio is doing a lot right. For instance, the program is funded by a fee on oil production instead of landing on taxpayers. So the industry is paying to clean up its own footprint."

Challenges and the Scale of the Problem

Despite progress in states like Ohio, the sheer number of orphan wells presents a daunting challenge. With estimates exceeding one million wells, the logistical, financial, and technical hurdles are immense. Additionally, there is uncertainty regarding the longevity of the plugs. While industry standards have improved, ensuring that wells remain sealed for the next 50 to 100 years remains a concern.

Amanda Visay [00:35]: "There's no guarantee [plugs] of that. What happens 100 years down the line?"

Conclusion: Ongoing Efforts and Future Concerns

The episode concludes with a sobering acknowledgment of the vast number of orphan wells yet to be addressed. While initiatives like Ohio's program are steps in the right direction, the scale of the issue requires national attention and increased funding. The story of Maria Burns serves as a microcosm of the broader environmental and societal impacts of orphan wells, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive solutions.

Juana Summers [00:50]: "One down, about a million to go."

Produced by: Vincent Akovino
Edited by: Patrick Jaranwattanan and Kara Platoni
Executive Producer: Sami Yenigun

This episode of Consider This effectively brings to the forefront the silent environmental menace of orphan wells, combining personal narratives with expert insights to illustrate the multifaceted challenges and the critical need for action.

Transcript

Juana Summers (0:00)

All across America, there are aging oil and gas wells no longer being used to extract oil or natural gas. A lot of them, and there are a lot of them don't have anyone on the hook to seal them up. There's a term for these wells, I would say as far as total orphan wells, it's probably more like 1 1/2 million. Dan Arthur is an engineer who consults with petroleum companies on environmental issues. Sometimes he plugs oil wells for work and in his spare time he, he finds them for fun. NPR reporter Camila Dominoski went searching for wells with him in Oklahoma. Oh, what do you see? So what I spotted here is what appears to be an orphan well, maybe a couple of orphan wells. So let's get out and take a look. This thing is charged. Oh, watch out for buffalo poop. But because they haven't been plugged, they're still leaking greenhouse gases and other chemicals into the atmosphere and into the land around them. So these wells can impact people, the environment, groundwater, surface water, soils, all these different things over time. And you know, it's frustrating for me because a lot of people don't see them consider this. All over America, aging oil and gas wells are causing real environmental problems. So what would it take to fill them in? What does it take to plug even one orphan well? From npr, I'm Juana Summers. The House of Representatives has approved a White House request to claw back two years of previously approved funding for public media. The rescissions package now moves on to the Senate. This move poses a serious threat to local stations and public media as we know it. Please take a stand for public media today@goacpr.org thank you. This is Eric Glass on this American Life. Sometimes we just show up somewhere, turn on our tape recorders and see what happens. If you can't get seven cars in 12 days, you gotta look yourself in the mirror and say holy. What are you kidding me? Like this car dealership trying to sell its monthly quota of cars and it is not going well. I just don't want one balloon to a car balloon the whole freakin place so it looks like a circus. Real life stories every week. You know those things you shout at the radio or maybe even at this very NPR podcast on NPR's. Wait, wait, don't tell me we actually say those things on the radio and on the podcast. We're rude across all media. We think the news can take it. Listen to NPR's Wait, Wait, don't tell me. Wherever you get your podcasts, it's consider this from npr. Nobody knows exactly how many orphan wells are out there, but there are lots of wells we do know about. One of them is an old natural gas well in Maria Byrne's front yard. It was plugged, but that was many decades ago. NPR's Camila Domonosky reports on how you solve a problem like Maria's. Normally, the loudest thing at Maria Burns Yard in Ashland, Ohio, would be the cacophony of dogs. She runs a dog grooming business, and she has more than a dozen of her own pooches. All rescues. They're all old. But on the day I visited her, the loudest thing was in fact the giant drill out front. Taller than a multi story building. That drilling rig was solving a problem that her yard has had for years. There's an old gas well here, and around it, grass didn't grow. The pine trees kept dying. Yeah, and there was another tree that sat there and it died. This wasn't just bad for Burns Landscaping. Old wells can be bad for the whole neighborhood, the whole planet. To explain what was happening, we need to go back to 1911, before the houses on this block were built, when an oilman named E.C. mcManaway drilled a natural gas well here, a hole punching deep underground to extract valuable fuel. For 40 years, this well produced natural gas. But over time, the flow slowed, and in 1953, the well was plugged. Seventy years passed, and things started to leak from deep underground. Old wells can be pathways to the surface for natural gas, largely methane, which. Which warms the climate, or other chemicals that can harm water, harm people, harm Burns pine trees. Maria Burns is 79 years old. She grew up here. She saw the crew that filled this well up so long ago. I can remember because my sister and I were just little. And for decades, the plugged well was not a problem. But eventually those pine trees started dying. Now, this was not Maria Burns responsibilities. She didn't drill this well. The problem was it wasn't anybody's responsibility. It's something called an orphan oil well, meaning a well that no one is legally on the hook for anymore. But it was in Burns Yard. So she did some research and reached out for help. It took me quite a while, but it's called the orphan well program in Ohio. The program pays to seal up those old wells, make them safer. But you have to get on a list because evidently there are a few, quite a few. There are surely tens of thousands of unplugged wells in Ohio. That's Mary Mertz, the director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in fiscal year 24, we plugged 353 wells. And I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but she says it's a lot more than the state used to plug. Other states have their own programs and the federal government has also designated billions of dollars to well plugging. Ted Bettner is a senior researcher at the Ohio River Valley Institute, a regional think tank who has studied orphan wells. He says Ohio is doing a lot right. For instance, the program is funded by a fee on oil production instead of landing on taxpayers. So the industry is paying to clean up its own footprint. So I do think Ohio offers a good example of what they're doing in a very small way that needs to be much larger in size. The scale of the problem is daunting, especially when you think about what's involved in actually fixing each one of those wells. Like Burns, what we are doing right now is we are drilling out that cement plug that was placed in 1953. That's Amanda Visay, a vice president with CSR Services. Her company is plugging this well at Maria Burns house. But first they have to clean out everything that's in there. Now Visay shows me the mobile drilling rig parked in front of the house. It's a red truck, bigger than a pickup, smaller than an 18 wheeler, with a three story tall mast rising from the back holding up a drill. The equipment is big, but the cement that it's pulling up from underground comes out in tiny chunks a little bit larger than sugar crystals. After the old plug comes out, the team will fill the well again from the bottom to the top and then plant Maria Burns some new shrubs. This whole process is not cheap and depends on how complicated each well is to work with. Honestly, it all just depends on what's there as to how, how long it takes and how much it costs. This well was on the tricky side. It took weeks to just to drill out the old plug. It was bundled with one other well in the contract with the state and it cost more than $400,000 to plug them both. Some estimate there are over a million orphan wells to plug right now. And then there's the uncomfortable fact that plugs don't last forever. The old plug here lasted less than one lifetime. I asked Vise, how can we be sure that the wells were plugging now 50 or 100 years from now? They aren't going to need to drill up and plug again. So there's no guarantee of that. What happens 100 years down the line? But she says the industry standards for well plugging have improved over the years, so plugs should last longer than they used to. It'll last long enough for Maria Burns, at any rate. She watched that noisy drilling rig at work with satisfaction. I'll be glad to get it done over with and never have to worry about it again. One down, about a million to go. That was reporting from NPR's Camila Dominoski. This episode was produced by Vincent Akovino. It was edited by Patrick Jaranwattanan and Kara Platoni. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. It's Consider this from npr. I'm Juana Summers. This summer on Planet Money Summer School, we're learning about political economy. We're getting into the nitty gritty of what government does with things like trade, taxes, immigration and health care. So politics and economics, which are taught separately, they shouldn't be separated at all. I think you have to understand one to really appreciate the other. So what is the right amount of government in our lives? Tune into Planet Money Summer School from npr. Wherever you get your podcasts. At Planet Money, we know that economic jargon can sometimes feel like speaking another language. Yeah, like arbitrage, alpha, otarchy. That's just what's in the news these days. There's also absolute advantage, aggregate demand, aggregate supply. And this is just the A's. Oh, animal spirits. 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