Media Contact:
Contact:
Justin Wasser, jwasser@earthworks.org, 202.753.7016
Background: Today, the Pennsylvania House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Protection voted 13 – 11, along party lines, to pass HB 364, a bill amending Title 58 (Oil & Gas) to restore the authority of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Environmental Quality Board to adjust bonding amounts for conventional oil and gas wells. The General Assembly removed this authority in 2022. An estimated 700,000 unplugged and abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania are at risk of venting methane and carcinogenic volatile organic compounds, including benzene, into the air. Pennsylvania has plugged 220 abandoned wells using federal infrastructure funding over the last two years, but the state has not developed a systemic solution to ensure wells are plugged without taxpayer dollars in the event operators go bankrupt. Adjusting bonding amounts to reflect the true cost of well plugging would address this systemic problem.
Statement by Melissa Ostroff, Earthworks Policy and Field Advocate for Pennsylvania:
“We essentially do not have financial assurance for oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania. Bonding levels are so low that operators are going bankrupt, abandoning wells routinely, and leaving taxpayers to pick up the bill to clean up industry’s mess. This pollution impacts the health of communities who live with leaking oil and gas infrastructure in backyards, schoolyards, and parks. Pennsylvanians should be proud to have elected officials like Chairman Greg Vitali and others who are fighting to defend the right to clean air and water in our Commonwealth by proactively addressing this industry-wide problem.
“I applaud the Committee for taking this first step, and look forward to working with House members to move this bill forward.”
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