Governor Shapiro: Concord Township oil well marks 200th plugged in 14 month span

March 12, 2024 Last Updated: March 12, 2024 08:47 PM Local News

Reid Campbell, center, and from left, Dreama McCall and Patty Campbell, celebrate their property having the 200th abandoned oil well capped during a ceremony attended by Gov. Josh Shapiro, right, in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

CONCORD TWP — About two weeks after hearing the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection planned to plug three abandoned oil wells on their property on Campbell Road, Gov. Josh Shapiro was standing there with Reid and Patty Campbell.

Reid Campbell said about five years ago, the couple got word the DEP had identified three abandoned oil wells on the couple’s 10-acre property, in a space straddling their property line with Frank and Dreama McCalls’. On Tuesday, March 12, Shapiro and the DEP celebrated the 200th orphaned oil well plugged in Pennsylvania since Shapiro took office about 14 months ago.

“This occurred, ‘Bang,’” Reid Campbell said. “They came out and met with us and made sure we were talking about all the wells. We did find a fourth well down there, and they are attempting to release funding to plug it because they are here.”

Shapiro said during a news conference in front of the plugging apparatus Tuesday the DEP has identified 550 abandoned and orphaned wells in Butler County, which includes 157 abandoned wells and 393 orphaned wells. He added his administration has already allocated $28 million to contractors for plugging projects across the state, with the project on Campbell Road being handled by Penn Mechanical Group, based in Indiana, Pa.

It took nine months for the Shapiro administration to plug 100 abandoned wells — its 100th also being commemorated with a ceremony at the site in Washington County — and less than five months to do 100 more. Shapiro said the abandoned gas wells across the state are responsible for about 8% of the state’s total methane emissions.

“Pennsylvania is facing the consequences of a legacy left by an industry that made a buck off our natural resources and then got away with abandoning these gas wells without properly plugging them,” Shapiro said. “That to me is unacceptable.”

The DEP now has a phone number for people to text images of possibly abandoned wells to. The phone number is 717-788-8990.

“If you’re on a hike and you walk past one of these wells, you stumble upon it, take a picture, send a text, send us your coordinates or your address if you have it,” Shapiro said. “Our oil and gas team, the DEP, puts our staff resources together in the mapping and plugging the wells that you report to us.

“Do not assume we already know about it.”

Shapiro has directed the DEP to use as much federal funding as possible to cap and plug orphaned and abandoned wells. The governor’s proposed 2024-25 budget also allocates $11 million to continue to support the identification and plugging of as many orphaned and abandoned wells as possible, according to a news release from Shapiro’s office.

Jessica Shirley, interim acting secretary for the DEP, said the department has identified 27,000 wells that have been abandoned, but there are likely about 350,000 abandoned wells across the state that remain undocumented.

“It’s a liability for the commonwealth that has been over 100 years in the making,” Shirley said. “We’re currently estimating that the average cost to plug a well is $100,000, so this problem is about a billion dollars in liabilities that we’re tackling head on.”

Shirley also said each abandoned well is “potentially a ticking time bomb.”

“It’s not a matter of if these wells will leak methane and contaminate the ground and water — it’s when,” she said.

Other speakers at the conference were Pennsylvania Rep. Tim Bonner, R-17th — who thanked Shapiro for plugging wells in Butler County — Tom Gilbert, president of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, and Tyler Shank, vice president of Penn Mechanical Group.

Dreama McCall said she had worried the abandoned well in front of her house would eventually collapse, which happened to an abandoned well on a neighbor’s property a few years ago.

Hearing that the DEP would prioritize plugging as many abandoned wells on the road as possible, Campbell also said his worries about the environment and water were shrinking.

“I’m very excited that they’re doing them because it’s going to take away a groundwater hazard for these people,” Campbell said.

Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, looks at the abandoned well which became the 200th well to be capped in Pennsylvania after a ceremony in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, chats with workers in front of the abandoned well which became the 200th to be capped in Pennsylvania after a ceremony in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Reid Campbell, left, speaks with Gov. Josh Shapiro after his property saw the 200th well capped during a ceremony in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, looks at the abandoned oil well which became the 200th to be capped in Pennsylvania after a ceremony Tuesday, March 12 in Concord Township. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Gov. Josh Shapiro, left, talks with Rep. Timothy Bonner, R-17th, during a ceremony commemorating the 200th well being capped under his administration on a property in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Patty and Reid Campbell, from left, speak with Gov. Josh Shapiro after their property had the 200th well to be capped in Pennsylvania after a ceremony in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Gov. Josh Shapiro attended a ceremony to recognize the 200th well capped in Pennsylvania on a property in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Reid Campbell, left, speaks with Gov. Josh Shapiro after his property saw the 200th well capped under his administration after a ceremony in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Dreama McCall tells Gov. Josh Shapiro about the abandoned well on her property which was capped during a ceremony in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Patty and Reid Campbell visit with Governor Josh Shapiro after their property was the 200th well capped during a ceremony in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Patty and Reid Campbell visit with Gov. Josh Shapiro after their property was the 200th well capped during a ceremony in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Dreama McCall, right, tells Gov. Josh Shapiro about the abandoned well on her property which was capped during a ceremony in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Reid Campbell, center, celebrates his property having the 200th well capped under Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration during a ceremony Tuesday, March 12, in Concord Township. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Gov. Josh Shapiro visits with property owners Reid and Patty Campbell and Dreama McCall, right, after their well was the 200th one to be capped under his administration during a ceremony in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a ceremony recognizing the 200th well to be capped in Pennsylvania under his administration on a property in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Jessica Shirley, interim acting secretary for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, speaks during a ceremony recognizing the 200th well to be capped under Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration on a property in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Rep. Timothy Bonner, R-17th, speaks during a ceremony recognizing the 200th well to be capped in Pennsylvania under Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration on a property in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Tyler Shank, vice president of Penn Mechanical Group, speaks during a ceremony recognizing the 200th well to be capped under Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration on a property in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

Tyler Shank, vice president of Penn Mechanical Group, shakes hand with Gov. Josh Shapiro during a ceremony recognizing the 200th well to be capped under his administration on a property in Concord Township on Tuesday, March 12. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle