Milestone moment: Hillman Park site of state’s 100th well capping
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Gov. Josh Shapiro talks with Yost Drilling CEO Scott Kiger, right, about the abandoned and orphaned well-plugging process on-site in Hillman State Park Wednesday. This well is the 100th capped and plugged in Pennsylvania within the past 10 months.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Amanda Leland, executive director of the Environmental Defense Fund, explains how orphaned and abandoned wells impact a locality’s property value, water quality and safety Wednesday in Hillman State Park. “The early success that we’re celebrating here in this program demonstrates that we can do big things together when we work together,” Leland said.
Katherine Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
This well in Hillman State Park is the 100th orphaned or abandoned well to be plugged in Pennsylvania this year, thanks in part to increased federal funding. There are an estimated 350,000 orphaned or abandoned wells in the state, which leak toxic chemicals into the air and local water supplies, pose a safety hazard and decrease property values.
Editor’s note: This story was changed to correct information regarding the well on Amber Norrid’s Burgettstown property.
BURGETTSTOWN – Gov. Josh Shapiro, together with the state Department of Natural Resources, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Pennsylvania Environment Council and representatives from Yost Drilling, celebrated an historic moment Wednesday morning in Hillman State Park.
By the end of this week, a well near the Radio Control Model Airport will be capped, signifying the 100th orphaned or abandoned oil well in Pennsylvania to be sealed within the last 10 months.
“We have plugged more wells in the first 10 months of our administration than the commonwealth plugged in the last six years,” Shapiro told the crowd. “And we are just getting started. We’re moving full speed ahead to ramp up this work and cap even more wells over the next 10 months.”
Pennsylvania was the first state to strike oil, according to the EDF, and oil wells have dotted the landscape since the 1850s. The state’s oil and gas industry was largely unregulated before the 1950s, and many oil and gas wells were not properly sealed after being abandoned.
“This story is far too familiar for the people of Pennsylvania: A company that kind of rolled into town with big promises, then rolled right back out as soon as the money dried up, leaving the local community … to clean up the mess that they left behind,” Shapiro said. “Pennsylvania is now facing the consequences of this corporate greed, of this legacy of an industry that made a buck off of our natural resources and got away with abandoning gas wells without properly plugging them.”
There are an estimated 350,000 abandoned or orphaned wells across the state, which account for about 8% of Pennsylvania’s total annual methane emissions, Shapiro said.
Unplugged wells create an explosion risk for nearby structures, and leak methane and other toxic chemicals into the air and nearby water sources, which directly impacts air and water quality locally.
“Abandoned wells are dangerous, especially for the folks who live right next to them,” Shapiro said.
Amber Norrid knows all too well the impacts of living next to an unplugged well.
Norrid lives up the road from the well capped Wednesday, and there are abandoned wells in both her front and back yards. Because of the close proximity to the wells, Norrid has ethane, methane and propane in her water, said her aunt, Marci Michalski, who lives in Hanover Township.
Because the water is contaminated, Norrid purchased a holding tank and had water delivered to her home.
“Radiation is also another issue. It’s to the point now I had to move out of my house and move in with my aunt, with my two little kids, because we can’t live there anymore,” Norrid said. “I have a digital radon detector upstairs in my daughter’s room right now, actually, and it was over 4.”
According to the EPA, radon levels should not exceed 4 piCls.
Along with the well capped Wednesday, three other wells in Hillman State Park will soon be plugged. Norrid’s home is also on the DEP’s emergency contract list, Kayla Anderson, deputy press secretary, said in an email. Prep work, which takes about two to three weeks, will begin on Norrid’s property next week, and the well should be sealed within four to five weeks.
Shapiro acknowledged that there is lots of work left to do. That’s why he’s moving forward with the Shapiro Administration Orphan and Abandoned Well Program, working to plug as many wells as possible.
Pennsylvania is on pace to receive at least $400 million in federal grants to cap wells in the next several years, Shapiro said. The state received $25 million from the federal government’s infrastructure law to seal orphaned and abandoned wells.
“It’s good for public health. Plugging wells is good for outdoor recreation and plugging wells is good for our local economy,” Shapiro said Wednesday.
Unplugged wells decrease property value, said Amanda Leland, executive director of the EDF, so sealing abandoned and orphaned wells is good for the local economy.
“It helps create jobs and improves communities all around these areas,” she said.
Indeed, the DEP has hired at least a dozen additional staffers to work on well-capping projects in Western Pennsylvania alone.
“This program benefits local businesses and provides long-term employment opportunities for residents in our state,” said Scott Kiger, CEO and principal owner of Yost Drilling.
Kiger has since 2018 been involved with plugging about 2,000 wells throughout the region. He said this year, he’s seen more participation in well plugging than ever, thanks to the well program.
“We currently employ about 260 in our plugging operation. It also supports 936 other jobs. We feel that we’re going to need to double that over the next three or four years, based on the budgets that Gov. Shapiro’s worked very hard to bring to Pennsylvania,” Kiger said.
The wells in Hillman State Park were discovered by locals who reached out to the DEP with concerns.
It’s not uncommon for residents to happen upon abandoned wells; many abandoned or orphaned wells are not documented on maps. That’s why Shapiro invites the public to collaborate on the well-plugging project.
If someone stumbles upon what they believe to be an abandoned or orphaned well, they’re encouraged to text a photo, along with the well’s coordinates or approximate location, to the texting hotline at 717-788-8990.
“We’re going to make sure that your help goes into action here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to make our community safer and healthier,” Shapiro said. “I believe working together, we will plug these wells, we’ll improve our air quality, we will strengthen communities and we will continue to get stuff done for the good people of Pennsylvania.”