A contract to plug 24 orphaned and abandoned gas and oil wells in the county is expected to be completed in the spring, as the state is planning to allocate more than $44 million in federal money to plug more non- and low-producing wells.

Using federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act money, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection awarded a contract to Penn Mechanical Group of Indiana County to plug 24 wells in Concord Township. As of the end of 2023, four wells have been plugged as part of the contract, and well operators plugged three other wells not associated with the federal funding, according to the DEP.

Across Butler County, the DEP has identified 550 abandoned and orphaned wells. The list includes 157 abandoned wells and 393 orphaned wells.

Orphaned wells are wells that are unplugged and are no longer producing with no responsible owner, while the National Law Review defines an abandoned well as “an unproductive well with a known owner and/or operator.”

Four of the wells to be plugged in Concord Township are on Township Supervisor Bill Boyer’s property.

Boyer said a contractor is plugging wells on a farm near his property, and he hopes they finish that work and begin plugging the wells on his property soon.

He said DEP officials came to the township about a year and a half ago and selected the wells they wanted to be plugged, but he doesn’t know how or why the 24 wells were selected.

Boyer said there are no problems with the wells on his property.

Dennis Bryan, a Fairview Township supervisor, said some of the abandoned oil wells in his area are not mapped.

The DEP’s oil and gas mapping tool displays some abandoned and plugged wells in Fairview Township that were investigated by the department. Others are simply marked “plugged,” indicating an entity other than the DEP capped the well.

Many of the old oil and gas wells are found in Fairview and Concord townships, and south of Route 422 near Penn Township.

Nearly all of the county’s old oil and gas wells are found at historical oil and gas well locations, according to the map. Fairview, which grew in response to the oil boom in the mid-to-late 19th century and shrunk in the wake of its subsequent decline, hosts a number of historic well sites.

The county is host to both conventional and unconventional wells that are abandoned and orphaned — most are conventional, according to the map.

“The drilling and completion of a conventional well requires just a few diesel engines as compared with dozens or even hundreds at unconventional wells,” said Tom Decker, regional communications manager with the DEP. “At a conventional site, engines typically run for only a few hours as compared to an unconventional site where engines run for days. Thus, the air quality impact at a conventional site is minimal.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro said he has directed DEP to use as much federal funding as possible to cap and plug the orphaned and abandoned wells across the state. So far, 137 wells have been capped and plugged. Shapiro said that number exceeds the number of wells plugged in the previous eight years combined.

In December, the state received $44,457,220 through the Inflation Reduction Act for projects that permanently reduce methane emissions in the commonwealth, Shapiro said.

Using the federal funding, DEP is currently creating a voluntary grant program for small well operators to plug marginally producing wells that are leaking methane into the air. The DEP estimates more than 87,000 conventional oil and gas wells may be eligible for this program.

“By focusing on capping and plugging as many orphaned, abandoned and marginal active wells as possible, my administration is making real progress toward tackling greenhouse gas emissions here in Pennsylvania and creating thousands of good-paying jobs in the process,” Shapiro said. “Let’s plug the wells, improve our air quality and strengthen our communities.”

DEP is making plans for community outreach efforts to educate residents about the available funding for these small operators. DEP is required to allocate this grant funding before September 2028.

Capping and plugging marginal active wells, in addition to orphaned and abandoned wells, improves public health, reduces planet-warming methane emissions, and creates good-paying jobs, according to the Shapiro administration.

About 65% of all owners of marginally producing wells that reported production in 2022 own 10 or fewer conventional wells and may lack the financial resources to properly address leaking wells, according to the DEP.

According to U.S. Department of Energy, 30% of methane emissions come from the oil and gas sector, and the emissions are responsible for about one third of the atmospheric warming caused by greenhouse gases today.

Previously, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and DOE awarded $350 million in formula grant funding to 14 states to help measure and reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. Pennsylvania has received the second-most funding, behind Texas.

Eagle staff writer Irina Bucur contributed to this report.