Pete HahnloserThe lull between leaf peeping and hunting season in the Appalachians of Northwest Pennsylvania will include a flurry of drone activity as researchers take advantage of the lack of foliage to find and document orphan and abandoned oil and gas wells in three counties.
Home to the nation’s first commercial oil well in 1859 just outside of Titusville, the state is estimated to have the most defunct oil and gas drilling sites in the country, with at least 300,000 wells still potentially releasing chemicals into the environment.
Pennsylvania makes a differentiation between orphan wells, which owners left prior to 1985, and abandoned wells, which haven’t been used in at least a year and remain uncapped. Both are being targeted for cleanup, with more than 200 wells having already been plugged and remediated.
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A collaboration between the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), McGill University, Moms Clean Air Force and the Environmental Defense Fund will locate and identify these wells using drone-mounted magnetometers and methane detection technologies.
Orphan and abandoned wells can pose serious risks to the safety of nearby communities, releasing oil, gas and other volatile chemicals into the air, soil and water. Children are more vulnerable to the harmful effects of these pollutants, especially if they live, go to school or play near a well. Additionally, these wells are a major source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
To tackle this widespread issue, the Pennsylvania project is testing methods from the DOE’s Orphan Well Program designed to quickly and efficiently locate these wells for proper plugging and abandonment, including:
- Map Analysis: Pinpointing areas most likely to contain orphan wells.
- Aeromagnetic Surveys: Deploying drones to detect magnetic signals and methane emissions.
- On-Ground Surveys: Confirming the locations of wells and measuring methane emissions directly.
Efforts will focus on three areas:
- Clarion County: 8.5 square miles near St. Petersburg
- Venango County: 7 square miles south of President
- McKean County: 4.3 square miles south of Mount Jewett
These locations were identified using current and historical data as likely to contain undocumented orphan and abandoned wells. The project will run from mid-October through late November, between the end of leaf fall and rifle hunting season. The drone surveys are expected to take less than a week in each county.
Next spring and summer, on-site fieldwork will verify the wells’ locations and measure methane leak rates from a selected group of them. Additional funding would allow expansion of this work into several areas of Southwestern Pennsylvania in 2025.
The drone will be equipped with sensors and fly 100 feet above the ground, collecting magnetic and methane data, without capturing any personal information like photos or videos. DEP staff will use that data to predict locations of oil and gas wells. The drone will emit a buzzing sound, similar to a gas lawnmower, and may fly over the same area multiple times. For safety, a pilot and crew will ensure the drone avoids obstacles like birds, trees and planes, and it will always remain in sight and never fly unattended.
The DEP will assess the risk of each discovered well and add it to the plugging schedule, with wells deemed to be emergencies receiving priority. Federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law could provide around $400 million to plug and remediate Pennsylvania’s orphan and abandoned oil and gas wells through 2030. Identifying and documenting more wells could help secure additional federal funding, potentially reaching billions.
Photo by Jason Mavrommatis on Unsplash
