Infrastructure money makes it a good time to be in the well plugging business

Infrastructure¹ money makes it a good time to be in the well plugging business

Transcript²

Across the country, some 2 million abandoned oil and gas wells are leaking methane³, a potent⁴ climate-warming gas. Now billions of dollars from the infrastructure law will be spent to cap them.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Across the U.S., some 2 million oil and gas wells have been abandoned, but they're still bad for the climate because they're leaking methane, a potent heat-trapping gas. Now billions of dollars from the recently passed infrastructure law will be used to cap some of them. Reid Frazier of The Allegheny Front reports.

REID FRAZIER, BYLINE⁵: Don Cornell is in a state forest standing⁶ in about a foot and a half of snow. He's an oil and gas inspector⁷ for Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection, and he's looking at a classic old pump jack⁸.

DON CORNELL: You can see there the jack is rusted⁹ apart, and it looks like it's put a lot of strain on that 2-inch pipe.

FRAZIER: This oil well was abandoned decades ago when the company that owns it went bankrupt. That means it's now Don Cornell's problem.

CORNELL: Over the next couple of years, that's going to break apart, things are going to fall down the hole and this is going to go up in price a lot to take care of this problem.

FRAZIER: These wells, basically open holes in the ground, pose a number of problems. They can leak gas into people's homes and cause explosions. They can pollute surrounding groundwater. And they can leak stray oil, brine or methane, a highly potent greenhouse gas. President Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law includes $4.7 billion for plugging them - basically sealing them with cement. Perhaps nowhere is this money more needed than in this part of Pennsylvania, says Cecile Stelter, a local state forester.

CECILE STELTER: I oftentimes say you can't swing a stick without hitting something metal out here.

FRAZIER: Stelter says the state can't even lease the lumber¹⁰ here to loggers because of the number of abandoned oil wells.

STELTER: There can be metal in the trees themselves that the tree has grown over, and then that becomes a safety issue for anyone in the manufacturing of that tree as it gets finished.

FRAZIER: At one time, this northwest corner of Pennsylvania was the largest oil field in the world. The country's first commercial oil well was drilled here in 1859. Pennsylvania has more than 20,000 abandoned wells the state knows about and probably hundreds of thousands that it doesn't. It's a good time to be in the business of plugging wells.

STEVEN PLANTS: So this is our newest workover rig here.

FRAZIER: Steven Plants owns an oil and gas company in Bradford, Pa. At his company's yard, he shows off a million-dollar piece of equipment he's bought to try to compete for state contracts the infrastructure money will pay for.

PLANTS: Service King 675, and it is a 112-foot-high derrick, and it will pull 300,000 pounds.

FRAZIER: Until now, well plugging has been a sleepy part of the industry because the state had little funding to do this work. And Plants says many companies that were required to plug their own wells haven't set aside much money for it.

PLANTS: If you were a company and you owned wells, you don't want to plug wells because there's no money in it. It's a cost. It's an expense. And you're - there's never going to be any return on that investment.

FRAZIER: But the infrastructure money may not solve that basic problem. Melissa Ostroff of Earthworks worries current rules still make it too easy for companies to walk away should the industry face a downturn.

MELISSA OSTROFF: Companies are allowed to go out there and drill new wells, even though you might easily be able to take a look at their - at the books and recognize that there's no way they're going to have the funding to close off all of these wells. And we're just continuing to allow that to happen right now.

FRAZIER: Still, she's glad the infrastructure money will help plug these climate-warming gas leaks, even if it only covers a fraction of the abandoned wells in the U.S.

For NPR News, I'm Reid Frazier in Bradford, Pa.

(SOUNDBITE OF THE AMERICAN DOLLAR'S "ANYTHING YOU SYNTHESIZE")

1 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

4 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

8 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

9 rusted   

v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I can't get these screws out; they've rusted in. 我无法取出这些螺丝，它们都锈住了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My bike has rusted and needs oil. 我的自行车生锈了，需要上油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。