
Borealis
Boutot, Jade;
Peltz, Adam S.;
McVay, Renee;
Kang, Mary
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2022-09-16
Orphaned oil and gas wells are unplugged non-producing wells with no solvent owner of record to plug and mitigate them, such that the responsibility often falls on governments and the general public. Unplugged wells pose risks to the environment, climate, and human health. The datasets contain the coordinates of 78,685 (as of September 2021) and 120,481 (as of April 2022) documented orphaned wells across the United States, which have been compiled from state oil and gas state agencies and public state databases. Documented orphaned wells will be addressed through the Investment and Infrastructure Jobs Act (IIJA, 2021) for plugging and remediation.