Money Available for Gas & Oil Wells Orphaned on Tribal Land
Funding through the program may be utilized to plug, remediate or reclaim orphaned wells on Tribal lands.
The Department of the Interior has announced their so-called “final guidance” for Tribal communities cleaning up orphaned oil and gas wells across their lands.
This guidance is to help those communities apply for their share of $55-million in grant funding, as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. Funding through the program may be utilized to plug, remediate or reclaim orphaned wells on Tribal lands, as well as restore soil and habitats in degraded areas. It will also decommission or remove associated infrastructure… identify and characterize additional undocumented wells, and set up well-plugging capacity where it’s not already established.
“Indigenous communities have long been disproportionately burdened by environmental pollution,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “Through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are tackling these toxic sites and honoring Tribal sovereignty by ensuring that Tribes are able to make their own decisions about how to address the health and safety needs of their people, improve economic growth, and realize their vision for the future. We are doing this by working with Tribes every step of the way, because we know Tribal leaders know best how to care for their people.”
“The Biden-Harris administration is committed to living up to our promises to Indian Country,” said Assistant Secretary Bryan Newland. “As we steward these investments, we are working directly with Tribes to ensure that their voices are integrated into decision-making processes and to provide Tribal Nations with the greatest possible autonomy to address the needs and priorities of their people. This is a key component of the President’s Investing in America agenda – building out the infrastructure to equip Tribes now and into the future.”
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a total of $4.7 billion to address orphaned wells across the country, including $150 million specifically for Tribal communities. In September, the Department awarded $40 million in grants to ten Tribes in the first phase of Tribal orphaned well funding. This program also advances President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which set the goal that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain Federal clean energy, climate, and other covered investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
There are thousands of orphaned oil and gas wells on Tribal lands, jeopardizing public health and safety by contaminating groundwater, seeping toxic chemicals, emitting dangerous pollutants, and harming wildlife. Methane leaking from many of these unplugged wells is a severe safety hazard and is a significant cause of climate change, being more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
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