随着11.5亿美元流向各州，以帮助关闭释放污染和温室气体的未使用的油气井，应对气候变化的一项重大努力-减少甲烷排放-正在进行中。
这些资金来自两党基础设施法，该法在九年内总共拨款47亿美元用于一个新的联邦项目，以解决孤儿井问题。这是第一个筹资阶段。
根据内政部的初步分析，全国有超过130，000口废弃水井。
“这是我成为参议员那天就听说的事情。它得到了全州各县的支持，因为他们认为有必要清理他们后院的这些泄漏井，”科罗拉多州参议员麦克·班尼在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时说。科罗拉多州现在收到了3900.6万美元用于清理油井。
尽管术语“孤立井”和“废弃井”经常互换使用，但一个重要的组成部分区分了孤立井，使它们更难找到。
国家资源保护委员会的高级倡导者乔希·阿克塞尔罗德说:“没有人知道它真正的主人，它就在野外，没有人能依附它。”。
在这些情况下，缺乏已知的所有者意味着清理的负担最终落在州政府身上，进而落在纳税人身上。这也增加了油井追踪的难度。
虽然州政府和环保组织已经自己动手填井，但这个过程可能需要数年时间，居民们要努力在自家后院填井。
根据EPA温室气体当量计算器的数据，新的资金特别关注孤儿井，这是美国估计200万至300万废弃井的子集，这些井每年释放的温室气体相当于150万至400万辆汽车。
根据麦吉尔大学进行的一项研究，它们是美国第十大甲烷排放者，这种气体使地球变暖的速度是二氧化碳的80倍。
各种团体正在与各州合作，通过多种方法寻找身份不明的孤儿井，包括使用无人机。基础设施法案提供的资金仅用于已经确定的油井。
根据环境保护基金和麦吉尔大学进行的一项研究，目前有900万美国人生活在离孤儿井不到一英里的地方。
西弗吉尼亚州的小学校长泰森·普莱斯担心他后院的水井会污染当地的河流，并伤害经常以此为饮用水源的鹿。西弗吉尼亚州环境保护部负责关闭油井，并维持一份按紧急程度排列清理项目的清单。
“两年前，我在西弗吉尼亚州的榜单上排名第43。几周前，我回到了DEP……我现在60多岁了;我想是65年。所以在这两年的时间里，我实际上已经在名单上下移了，”普莱斯说，他已经花了六年时间试图关闭这口井。
除了气体污染物之外，废弃的油井可能会泄漏剩余的石油，并带来燃烧的风险。但是成本、技术挑战和环境问题阻碍了居民自己处理这些水井。清理过程需要用水泥填充油井并恢复表面。
普莱斯说:“我根本负担不起自己插上这个东西，然后用一种环保的方式来做这件事。”。
虽然泰森和他的家人没有感觉到油井的不良影响，但有报道称，由于靠近未堵塞的油井，出现了健康问题。西弗吉尼亚州目前从第一轮资金中获得了5529.3万美元，用于帮助清理该州的6309口孤儿井。
根据美国国家海洋和大气管理局(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)发布的新数据，关闭油井的努力正值近年来全球甲烷排放量激增之际。在去年的COP26气候峰会上，美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)和其他世界领导人宣布了到2030年减排30%的全球甲烷承诺。
“这是我们国家能源转型的一个基本部分，以确保我们不会留下这些孤儿井...我希望有真正的动力去做任何必要的事情来清理剩余的部分。
Money flows to states for cleaning up environmentally hazardous orphaned wells
A major effort to combat climate change -- reducing methane emissions -- is now underway as $1.15 billion flows to states to help close unused oil and gas wells that release pollution and greenhouse gases.
The funds stem from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which in total allocated $4.7 billion over nine years for a new federal program to address orphan wells. This is the first funding phase.
There are over 130,000 orphaned wells across the country, according to a preliminary analysis from the Department of the Interior.
"This is something I have heard about from the day I became a senator. And it's got the support of counties all across the state because they see the need to clean up these leaking wells in their backyards," said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., in an interview with ABC News. Colorado is now receiving $39,006,000 to clean up the wells.
Although the terms "orphaned" and "abandoned" are often used interchangeably, a significant component distinguishes orphaned wells and makes them more difficult to find.
"There's no known owner like it's truly -- it's just out there in the wild, nobody can be attached to it," said Josh Axelrod, a senior advocate for the National Resources Defense Council.
In these instances, the lack of a known owner means the burden for cleanup ends up falling on state governments and, in turn, taxpayers. It also makes the wells more challenging to track.
While state governments and environmental groups have worked on their own to fill wells, the process can take years, with residents struggling to get wells filled in their own backyards.
The new funding focuses specifically on orphaned wells, a subset of the estimated 2 to 3 million abandoned wells in the United States that, combined, release greenhouse gases equal to 1.5 to 4 million cars annually, according to the EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
They are the nation's tenth-largest methane emitters, according to a study conducted at McGill University, and the gas warms the planet at 80 times the rate of carbon dioxide.
Various groups are working with states to find unidentified orphaned wells through multiple processes, including using drones. The funding from the infrastructure bill only addresses already-identified wells.
There are currently 9 million Americans who live within one mile of an orphaned well, according to a study conducted by the Environmental Defense Fund and McGill University.
Tyson Price, an elementary school principal in West Virginia, worries the well in his backyard is polluting the local river and harming deer that frequently use it as a drinking source. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for closing wells and maintains a list that ranks cleanup projects in order of urgency.
"Two years ago, I was 43 on the list in West Virginia. And a couple of weeks ago, I reached back out to the DEP… I'm in the 60s now; I think it was 65. So in that two-year span, I've actually moved down the list," said Price, who has spent six years trying to get the well closed.
On top of gaseous pollutants, orphaned wells can leak leftover oil and carry a risk of combusting. But the cost, technical challenges and environmental concerns prevent residents from dealing with the wells on their own. The cleanup process requires filling the wells with cement and restoring the surfaces.
"There's just no way that I could afford to plug this thing myself and do it, you know, in an environmentally safe way," Price said.
Although Tyson and his family have felt no ill effects from the well, reports have emerged of health issues brought on by proximity to unplugged wells. West Virginia is now receiving $55,293,000 from the first round of funding to help clean up the state's 6,309 orphaned wells.
The push to close the wells comes as global methane emissions have ballooned in recent years, according to new data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. At last year's COP26 climate summit, President Joe Biden and other world leaders announced a Global Methane Pledge to cut emissions 30% by 2030.
"It's a fundamental part of our energy transition in this country to make sure that we don't leave these orphan wells behind...I would expect there to be real momentum to do whatever is necessary to clean up the rest," Bennet said.
