Undocumented orphaned wells pose hazards to both the environment and the climate. Scientists are building modern tools to help locate, assess, and pave the way for ultimately plugging these forgotten relics.
Scattered across the United States are remnants from almost 170 years of commercial drilling: hundreds of thousands of forgotten oil and gas wells. These undocumented orphaned wells (UOWs) are not listed in formal records, and they have no known (or financially solvent) operators. They are often out of sight and out of mind—a hazardous combination.
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