The federal government will allocate $25 million to cap so-called orphan wells in Arizona.
The funding from last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law will reclaim nearly 250 abandoned oil and gas wells throughout the state and help with the cleanup of 20 sites near sources of drinking water. They’ll be monitored for five years.
In addition, the funding will also go toward methane monitoring to identify emission concentrations and confirm the effectiveness of the well plugs. In all, the law invested more than $4.5 billion to remediate orphan well sites across the country.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act became law in November, 2021.