BATON ROUGE, La. – Today, Gov. John Bel Edwards and Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Tom Harris announced that contractors have plugged 300 orphaned well sites in the first four-and-a-half months of work funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL).
That figure of 300 wells plugged outpaces the highest number ever plugged by the state Oilfield Site Restoration (OSR) program in a full year – 280 in Fiscal year 1998-99 – and nearly doubles the average OSR fully-year plugging figures over the past several years. The $25-million Initial Grant from the BIL helped attract larger-scale contractors who normally do not bid on smaller individual projects.
“I’m extremely proud of our progress in plugging 300 orphaned wells in just four-and-a-half months using funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” said Gov. Edwards. “We’re using BIL funding to make transformational investments across Louisiana, and I appreciate the work that Sec. Harris, his team and the contractors are doing to ensure this crucial work is off to a strong start. I would like to thank Rep. Troy Carter, Sen. Bill Cassidy, and President Biden for their support of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that makes this work possible.”
The two primary contractors chosen by DNR have ramped up to more than a dozen crews with work expected to be continuous through October 2023.
“The contractors and their crews have worked hard to help us make these BIL dollars count. We’ve been fortunate to...
WNBA star Sophie Cunningham has shut down allegations about her supposed falling out with former podcast co-host West Wilson. Cunningham has called out media outlets for spreading false informatio...