An Indiana-based company has helped fulfill a milestone with the state Department of Environmental Protection in plugging the 200th abandoned or orphaned gas well in the last 14 months.
Penn Mechanical Group out of Indiana was joined by Governor Josh Shapiro and other government officials for the plugging of a well in Butler County. The achievement represents an increased pace in well-plugging. The DEP has been directed to draw down as much federal funding as possible to plug wells in order to reduce methane emissions. The more than 350,000 estimated orphaned or abandoned gas wells in Pennsylvania is believed to make up nearly 8 percent of the total methane emissions in the state, and Methane contributes to global warming and also contributes to air pollution.
Shapiro called the effort a “smart, commonsense way to combat climate change” and the DEP will continue the aggressive pursuit of operators who walk away from wells without plugging them.
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