NM to get $43M for abandoned well cleanup

An effort to plug and clean up hundreds of orphaned and abandoned New Mexico oil and gas wells is poised to take off with an influx of $43.7 million.

New Mexico’s governor and congressional delegation announced Monday the state would receive the hefty sum as part of the federal Infrastructure and Jobs Act, which was passed last fall with bipartisan support. All of New Mexico’s Democratic representatives voted for the bill, while Rep. Yvette Herrell, R-N.M., voted against.

Currently, the state cleans up about 50 oil and gas wells a year, at a cost of about $54,000 each. Money from the infrastructure bill will help ramp up those efforts.

“The investments in this program are a win-win, protecting the environment and public health, while also providing good-paying jobs in our rural areas,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a news release. “I am grateful to our congressional delegation for getting this funding to the state.”

When an oil and gas operator goes out of business, wells may become orphaned or abandoned and the responsibility of cleaning up the site can fall on the state. Abandoned wells can leak planet-warming gas and pollute groundwater.

There are about 1,700 abandoned or orphaned wells spread throughout the state, according to New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Division.

The New Mexico share is part of $1.15 billion that the White House on Monday announced was soon heading to states to address tens of thousands of orphaned oil and gas wells across the country.

This is the first portion of about $4.7 billion included in the infrastructure bill that will be directed at remediating old and abandoned wells.

A Department of Interior analysis found there are more than 130,000 documented orphaned wells in the United States, according to a report by Reuters.

“Orphan wells are an enormous source of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 86 times more potent than CO2. With this new funding, we’re putting our traditional energy workers to work solving a major climate challenge,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, D-N.M., said in a news release that, during a visit to a school near an orphaned well, she said she could “taste the metal in the air.”

“This funding will both protect the environment and create goodpaying jobs for New Mexicans,” she said.