There are more than 1,600 documented orphaned wells throughout the Osage Nation’s lands. That number could jump after the Department of Natural Resources completes survey work as part of two grants they received last fall to plug abandoned wells.
Oil companies that drill and operate these wells are legally obligated to close drill holes and clean up sites once they finish extraction, but when they go bankrupt or abdicate their responsibilities, tribal citizens and landowners are left to deal with the fallout.
That’s why the Nation sought and received funding from the Department of the Interior’s Orphaned Wells Program Office. It was awarded two grants totaling $19,100,414. The Nation also applied for an Orphaned Wells Program Implementation Grant – which is part of a larger five-year award totaling $91,000,000.
Orphan wells throughout the Nation have leaked methane carbon into the atmosphere – a potent greenhouse gas that damages the environment and can pose health risks when left unchecked.
Last year the ON Congress approved both grants, but with the stipulation the funding is to be utilized by the Osage Minerals Council. The Council has already successfully plugged 88 orphaned wells.
Principal Chief Geoffrey Standing Bear approved ONCA 24-12, the bill that would implement the two grants on Dec. 20.
“We didn’t create this problem, but we will solve it using state-of-the-art equipment to locate these abandoned wells with pinpoint accuracy and restore a healthier environment here in our Osage homelands,” Standing Bear said in a Wahzhazhe Communications press release.
OMC councilman Paul Revard said the U.S. government should take some responsibility in the clean-up.
“Some of these wells were left here by oil producers that are no longer around,” Revard said, noting the trust relationship the U.S. has toward the mineral estate.
Revard also wants to make sure that any wells that are approved to be plugged are deemed wells that aren’t viable anymore, meaning they aren’t capable of producing more oil.
According to the release, remediation work will include, “details on the number of orphaned wells on the property, the environmental damage caused by these wells, and estimated costs to restore the land.”
The Nation’s DNR has a team in place using drones and planes to survey parts of the Nation to locate emergency wells in need of immediate remediation.
“We want all property owners as well other folks living throughout the Osage Nation to know that if they see a noticeable increase in airplanes and drones in the sky and technicians in the field to rest assured that we are utilizing this new specially designed technology to map these abandoned wells in the most efficient ways possible,” said Craig Walker, Director of ONDNR. “Our team will reach out to property owners in advance for signed permission to survey their properties.”
The Nation anticipates plugging 300 wells with money from the grant program.
