Pennsylvania has more abandoned oil and gas wells than previously thought, and some are leaking large amounts of climate-damaging methane gas, according to a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers from Princeton and Stanford combined field observations with old books, literature, historical documents and modern databases to [...]
A new study out this week shows that Pennsylvania’s abandoned oil and gas wells could be a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions. Pennsylvania is littered with old oil and gas wells that date back to the 1860’s. Unmapped and unmonitored, these wells can turn into pollution pathways for oil, gas and brine. About 12,000 [...]
Update: The public hearing scheduled for tonight in Tunkhannock has been postponed until January 27. State environmental regulators are gathering public comment on a proposed overhaul of Pennsylvania’s oil and gas regulations that will change the way the industry operates above ground. The wide-ranging revision will update Chapter 78 of the Pennsylvania Code, the section [...]
This morning, NPR aired a StateImpact report on Pennsylvania’s estimated 200,000 abandoned oil and gas wells, and the problems caused this summer when a Tioga County Shell drilling operation intersected with an 80-year-old well. You can listen to the report here, and read our full series on the problem, Perilous Pathways, here. From the Morning [...]
There are likely 200,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania. At best, we know where about four percent of them are. This is a problem because abandoned wells provide a pathway for natural gas to seep to the surface, where the methane can pool in water wells, basements or other enclosed spaces, and trigger [...]
Last week, StateImpact Pennsylvania published a series on the dangers posed by the state’s estimated 200,000 abandoned oil and gas wells. These unplugged holes create unobstructed pathways for natural gas to migrate to the surface, where it can pool in water wells, basements, and other enclosed spaces. It turns out, Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection [...]
If you want to find evidence of Pennsylvania’s long history of oil and gas drilling, a good place to start is in Laurie Barr’s back yard. Behind Barr’s house, a few rusty pipes stick out of the ground, abandoned entry points to wells drilled long ago. Until recently, Barr had no inkling that abandoned wells [...]
Click here to view a map of every known abandoned well in Pennsylvania. These 8,255 wells represent just four percent of the abandoned wells out there.
The Tribune-Review takes a look at the link between Marcellus Shale drilling and old, abandoned wells: Today the latest gas-drilling rush in the Marcellus shale may bring an opportunity to plug many of those old wells, but it also brings the risk that old wells could create a path for gas and chemicals to migrate [...]
If you’re out hunting or hiking in Pennsylvania’s woods and stumble across an old rusted pipe sticking out of the ground, chances are, nobody knows about it. And if it’s spewing a bubbling liquid, somebody should definitely know about it. No one knows exactly how many abandoned oil and gas wells are in Pennsylvania, or where [...]
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