Governor Tom Wolf announced today that Pennsylvania has been awarded its initial allocation of $25 million, and will receive a total of $104 million, from President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to plug orphaned and abandoned wells in Pennsylvania. In addition to reducing pollution, the funding will support the creation of new, good-paying jobs related to the cleanup.

"Today's announcement from the Biden Administration is welcome relief,​ and I'm pleased that the president shares my commitment to addressing this legacy issue," said Gov. Wolf. "​Addressing Pennsylvania's orphaned and abandoned gas and oil wells will not only support our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it will create a cleaner local ecosystem at each well site and energize the economy of our entire commonwealth."

Pennsylvania is home to tens of thousands of orphaned and abandoned wells. These wells have the potential to pollute backyards, recreational areas, and public spaces, and frequently release methane, a potent greenhouse gas with a global warming potential more than 28 times that of carbon dioxide. This initial $25 million investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will support plugging the wells to address environmental, health, and safety concerns.

The Wolf Administration looks forward to working with the Department of Interior to put the resources announced today to work to enhance the state's well plugging program and immediately remediate high-priority wells.

The $25 million announced today is Pennsylvania's initial grant allotment of $104 million in Phase I funding available to the commonwealth through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Pennsylvania is set to receive the second largest allocation of funding, after Texas.

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The Office of the Governor of the State of Pennsylvania published this content on 31 January 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 31 January 2022 19:41:01 UTC.