States with abandoned oil and gas wells will receive $775 million to clean them up, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced Wednesday. Using funds from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, the department will provide grants to 21 states to reduce methane leaks and groundwater risks.
“These investments are good for our climate, for the health of our communities and for American workers,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
There are at least 100,000 abandoned oil and gas wells across the country that have been abandoned by fossil fuel companies.
There are contaminated sites in need of cleanup in about 30 states. In California, there are over 5,000 abandoned wells, 1,335 of which are in Los Angeles.
According to the California Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, the cost of cleaning individual wells ranges from $15,000 to $500,000 (for work that requires removing tanks and pipes and cleaning the bottom).
The Interior Ministry said such wells posed a serious safety and health risk by contaminating groundwater and surface water, releasing toxic air pollutants and leaking methane.
The third round of well-plugging funding is part of the $4.7 billion provided by the bipartisan infrastructure bill that has already helped states unplug more than 8,200 orphaned wells. The department has awarded about $1 billion in grants to date to clean up orphaned wells.