WV getting $29 million to plug orphan oil & gas wells wdtv.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wdtv.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Pennsylvania has spent as much as $110,000 to stop pollution leaks at single oil and gas wells, while some wells may be plugged for as little as $1,000.
This article first appeared at ProPublica and Capital and Main. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story…
Unplugged oil and gas wells accelerate climate change, threaten public health and risk hitting taxpayers’ pocketbooks. ProPublica and Capital & Main found that the money set aside to fix the problem falls woefully short of the impending cost.
West Virginia lawmakers, from U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., to the state House Energy and Manufacturing Committee, are siding with and pushing pro-gas and oil industry measures despite heavy costs to consumers and taxpayers. Manchin has opposed a White House liquefied natural gas, or LNG, pause while state lawmakers have advanced bills aimed at protecting the industry.