Abandoned responsibility
Many state lawmakers long ago abandoned their constitutional duty to preserve the environment by instead representing the natural gas industry.
Now, a report by the state Department of Environmental Protection reflects that legislative malpractice. The DEP found that, from 2017 through 2021, more than half of owners of “conventional” gas wells failed to report how much gas they extracted and that operators abandoned, without plugging, more than 3,000 methane-spewing wells.
Conventional wells are not those across the Marcellus Shale fields. Marcellus Shale wells are deep and partially horizontal. Conventional wells are relatively shallow and vertical.
Many state lawmakers long ago abandoned their constitutional duty to preserve the environment by instead representing the natural gas industry.
Now, a report by the state Department of Environmental Protection reflects that legislative malpractice. The DEP found that, from 2017 through 2021, more than half of owners of “conventional” gas wells failed to report how much gas they extracted and that operators abandoned, without plugging, more than 3,000 methanespewing wells.
Conventional wells are not those across the Marcellus Shale fields. Marcellus Shale wells are deep and partially horizontal. Conventional wells are relatively shallow and vertical.
When a company fails to plug a well, the responsibility falls to the DEP — taxpayers — at a cost of about $30,000 a well. Drillers must post a bond of just $2,500 to qualify for drilling permit for a well, or just $25,000 to cover multiple wells. That provides an incentive for abandonment rather than obeying the law.
Former Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the study in 2022 after he disagreed with a bill maintaining separate regulations for deep and conventional wells, which later became law without his signature. The report was released in January after he left office.
His successor, Gov. Josh Shapiro, increased enforcement when he was attorney general and campaigned on the issue. Now, he should not waste the opportunity to make sure that responsibility for pollution-spewing abandoned wells rests with operators rather than taxpayers.