Senator McConnell helped secure this funding by supporting last year’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 2, 2022) – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced today the Department of Interior will provide Kentucky with $103,981,000 to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells. Senator McConnell helped secure this funding by supporting last year’s bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which provides federal investment for improvements to Kentucky’s roads, highways, railroads, airports, broadband, and more.
Kentucky has more than 14,000 orphaned well sites – some of the most in the United States, accounting for nearly 18% of the national total. Orphaned wells create no economic output, and can pollute outdoor areas and create an environmental hazard for nearby communities. The cleanup activities funded by today’s announcement will help improve our air and water and increase nearby property values - all while creating Kentucky jobs.
“The abandoned oil and gas wells littered across Kentucky are a liability to our Commonwealth, providing no jobs or output. This is a problem in nearly every county, but until now, our local governments have not had the funding required to complete cleanup projects on a large scale,” said Senator McConnell. “With today’s funding announcement, Kentucky communities will have the necessary resources to launch new cleanup projects and create Kentucky jobs. I supported last year’s landmark bipartisan infrastructure bill precisely because of programs like this that fund solutions to the long-overlooked problems affecting the Commonwealth.”
“The Kentucky Oil and Gas Association (KOGA) applauds Leader McConnell for championing the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, which includes critical funding to plug legacy abandoned and orphan wells across the nation,” said Ryan Watts, KOGA Executive Director. “Outperforming most states, Kentucky has done a superb job of locating, categorizing, and plugging legacy orphan wells. Thanks to Senator McConnell and this appropriation, Kentucky is well-positioned to continue its successful efforts of plugging many additional legacy wells and remediate their surface impact.”
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