Idle Wells Threaten our Health and Future
While California has a reputation as a green state, the fossil fuel industry still remains active, polluting our climate and poisoning the public. In the state of California alone, there are about 70,000 oil and gas wells that are either idle and not producing oil or at high risk of becoming idle. These idle wells have been inactive for many years and pose serious risks to our health, our environment, and our economy the longer they remain unplugged.
This problem is not just limited to California, across the country there are estimated to be 1.75 million unplugged oil wells. California can show the country how we can lead the way to a just transition away from polluting fossil fuel infrastructure.
Find out The Cost to Clean Up Zombie Wells According to a recent report by the California Council on Science and Technology, it costs approximately $65,000 to remediate each oil well. Deserted oil wells are inactive wells without an owner, meaning the task of closing the wells is left to the state. In California, the state has identified 2,500 oil wells that are currently deserted and 2,600 that are at a high risk of being deserted. If current active and inactive wells become deserted, it could result in $9 billion in cleanup cost to taxpayers. To prevent this from happening, we must hold oil companies responsible to close their own “zombie wells.” The 70,000 zombie wells in California will become the state’s responsibility and liability if they continue to be neglected by oil companies. Zombie Wells’ Adverse Health Effects Even though these wells are inactive, or marginal, producing very little oil, they pose similar health risks as active wells. Local groundwater continues to be poisoned by dangerous chemicals and gases until the oil wells are closed down for good. Additionally, there are chemicals and flammable gases which leak up through the surface to pollute the air. The longer a well sits idle, the greater the risk becomes. Increased exposure to air toxins increases the risk of health harms, which is especially serious in Los Angeles since the majority of oil wells in the LA area are within 2,500 feet of homes, schools, hospitals, parks, and other sensitive sites. Contribution to the Climate Crisis Another main concern of these oil wells is the release of greenhouse gases and their contribution to global climate change. Zombie oil wells release methane when drilling, and continue to release methane until the wells are properly cleaned and plugged. Methane gas is a significant contributor to global climate change and 86 times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 20 year period. In order to prevent the worst impacts, we must take every step we can to limit its release into the atmosphere. The EPA estimates that idle oil wells in the United States emit the methane equivalent of 2.1 million passenger cars or 9.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. An easy step towards becoming carbon neutral and stopping global climate change is properly closing oil wells after they have been shut down. Remediating Abandoned Wells Creates Good Jobs If done right, this cleanup process can be economically beneficial to the state and workers. Not only would we be avoiding a potential $9 billion in taxpayer cleanup by holding oil companies responsible for cleaning up their own mess, but we could also create an estimated 18,000 new jobs over the course of 5 years. Take Action Let’s work together to hold oil companies responsible for their mess, protect our communities’ health, make California more sustainable, and create thousands of good, local jobs. If you’re in Los Angeles County, sign our petition to write your LA County Supervisor a letter about the recent Just Transition LA motion and spread the word on social media. If you live in California, contact your local elected official to ask them to take action to clean up zombie idle wells in your community. Learn how you can take action here. Share these graphics on social media
