Work to clean up abandoned oil and gas wells across New Mexico got a boost this week when the Department of the Interior announced it has established a program within the DOI to plug the wells and return federal lands to their home states.
The state of New Mexico, the nation’s second-largest producer of crude oil, has estimated that at least 1,700 wells releasing pollutants into the air, water and soil have been abandoned on its borders because companies leave the wells unused when they determine they are harmful and financially unsustainable .
Operators in New Mexico are paying into bonds meant to fund the cleanup, but the money often doesn’t have enough, and states pick up the difference.
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New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Division said it has typically been able to plug about 50 wells a year in the past, but with about $43.7 million in federal funding provided to New Mexico by the recent Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act and additional federal grants were made available, that number could rise to as many as 200.
Statewide, the law earmarks approximately $4.7 billion for the rehabilitation of abandoned wells over the coming years — $4.3 billion for work at the state and private levels, $250 million for state lands, including national parks and forests, and an additional $150 million for wells on tribal lands.
This year, DOI provided the first $33 million for approximately 277 wells on state lands across the United States, along with $560 million for states and $50 million for tribal agencies.
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It’s part of the federal government’s broader U.S. action plan to cut methane emissions, laid out by President Joe Biden’s administration last year, which should help boost the economies of energy-based communities amid a fossil-fuel transition.
“Thanks to funding supported by New Mexico congressional Democrats, we are using our traditional energy workers to solve a major climate challenge,” said US Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM).
The funding came as U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) added the Revitalizing Economic Growth and Reclamation of Orphaned Wells (REGROW) Act to the Infrastructure Act before it was passed in 2021.
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He said it was particularly important to address the issue in New Mexico, where frontline communities adjacent to oil and gas fields are vulnerable to the health effects of fossil fuel pollution.
Methane gas, the most important of the pollutants associated with abandoned wells, has a short-term atmospheric heat-trapping power of 25 times that of carbon dioxide (CO2) and contributes to climate change as the second most commonly emitted greenhouse gas in the US after CO2.
“Abandoned oil and gas wells have posed a serious health risk to countless Americans for far too long, which is why I was proud to secure historic funding for their rehabilitation through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” Lujan said in a statement.
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U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) said the work would not only protect some of the state’s most marginalized rural populations, but also create pro-business jobs that benefit from a workforce already familiar with fossil fuels and related industries infrastructure is familiar.
“Clogging orphaned wells is an environmental justice issue that will help ensure a healthier future for our communities while providing high-paying jobs for New Mexicans,” she said.
Newly elected U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez (D-NM), whose southern 2ndnd The congressional district covers most of New Mexico’s Permian Basin in southeastern state — the busiest oil field in the US — and said the DOI needs to work closely with states to begin solving the problem and managing its impact .
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“Bringing home funds that address the serious health risks from abandoned wells is one of my priorities,” Vasquez said. “I plan to work with (Interior) Secretary (Deb) Haaland to ensure this funding addresses the health and environmental impacts in our district. Addressing these threats will ensure we protect our most vulnerable communities.”
The program will establish a new office at the DOI under the Assistant Secretary of Policy, Management and Budget tasked with implementing federally funded projects to survey, identify and remediate abandoned wells.
Haaland, himself a former New Mexico congressman, said in a statement the investment is “historic” and would help address health concerns related to the industry.
“Through President Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, we are making a historic investment to address legacy pollution — the largest in American history,” she said in a statement. “As part of this effort, the department is establishing a new office to assist state, tribal and federal land managers in closing and rehabilitating orphaned oil and gas wells that pose environmental hazards to communities across the country.”
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, [email protected] or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.
