WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of the Interior announced a more than $12 million investment through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help four tribal nations clean up orphaned oil and gas wells on their homelands. The investment is a critical step in supporting tribal land rights and economic opportunities to address legacy pollution, reduce harmful methane leaks, and tackle environmental hazards that threaten tribal communities. Funding may be utilized to plug, remediate or reclaim orphaned wells on tribal lands, restore soil and habitat in degraded areas, decommission or remove associated infrastructure, identify and characterize additional undocumented wells on tribal land, and set up well-plugging capacity where not already established.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a total of $4.7 billion to address orphaned wells across the country, including $150 million specifically for tribal communities. The Department previously awarded $40 million in grants to 10 tribes in the first phase of tribal orphaned well funding. The announcement brings the total nationwide investment in cleaning up orphaned wells on tribal lands to nearly $52 million. Additional phase two tribal grants will be announced on a rolling basis.
“The Biden-Harris administration is committed to honoring tribal sovereignty by ensuring that tribes are able to make their own decisions about how to address the health and safety needs of their people, improve economic growth, and realize their vision for the future,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “Through the President’s Investing in America agenda, we are making millions of dollars available for tribally-led projects that are addressing legacy pollution and creating good-paying jobs.”
Orphaned oil and gas wells have the potential to jeopardize public health and safety by contaminating groundwater, seeping toxic chemicals, polluting drinking water sources, emitting dangerous pollutants, and harming wildlife. Methane leaking from many of these unplugged wells is a severe safety hazard and is a significant cause of climate change, being more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
The Interior Department made $55 million available in the second phase of tribal awards and continues to work with tribes to complete proposals and initiate projects under this opportunity. Tribes also may request direct assistance from the Department, through “In Lieu of Grant” funding, to administer and carry out plugging, remediation and reclamation activities on the tribe’s behalf.
In addition to providing historic funding to tribes, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated over $4.2 billion to identify and address orphaned well sites on state and private lands, and $250 million to identify and address well sites in national parks, national forests, national wildlife refuges, and other public lands. Over the past three years, more than $1 billion has been awarded to states and nearly $150 million has been awarded to federal agencies.
Grants through this announcement will be provided in two categories: Implementation and Program Development. Implementation grants support plugging, remediation and reclamation activities for orphaned wells on tribal lands. Other funded activities under this type of grant include pre-plugging assessments and remediation of soil and restoration of habitat degraded by orphaned wells or associated pipelines, facilities, and infrastructure. Program Development grants support capacity-building activities that help tribal recipients prepare for future plugging, remediation and reclamation activities. Program Development funding will assist tribes in locating, inventorying and assessing orphaned wells and in amplifying tribal capacity and expertise through job creation, training and administrative support.
This effort also advances the President’s Justice40 Initiative that sets a goal to deliver 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments to disadvantaged communities that have been marginalized by underinvestment and overburdened by pollution.
Tribal Phase 2 Projects:
- Caddo Nation of Oklahoma – $3,707,129 – Program Development and Implementation Grants
- These projects will verify and assess up to 20 orphaned wells identified in a preliminary inventory during the Program Development phase, identify undocumented wells, and then will use Implementation grant funds to plug orphaned wells and remediate and restore well sites.
- Navajo Nation – $4,970,911 – Implementation Grant
- Building on assessment activities completed under a Phase 1 award, this project will identify and assess undocumented orphaned wells on tribal land, plug an additional 19 prioritized wells, and remediate wells sites. The project will also conduct post-plugging inspections and measurements to verify the lack of gaseous emissions or water contamination from plugged wells and the achievement of vegetation performance standards appropriate to the site’s future land uses.
- Osage Nation – $1,000,000 – Program Development Grant
- This project will build on inventory, assessment, and plugging activities conducted with a Phase 1 award by developing remediation plans that document environmental degradation, map boundaries of contaminated areas, and prioritize well sites that pose the greatest environmental risks on tribal land for future remediation.
- Seneca Nation of Indians – $2,500,000 – Implementation Grant
- This project will fund plugging of up to 25 orphaned wells in the tribe’s Allegany Territory.
