There Are 1,401 Uninspected High-Risk Oil and Gas Wells. Here's Where They Are.

[hue]

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/06/uninspected-oil-gas-wells-map

The government is failing to conduct key safety inspections on new oil and gas wells on federal and Native American land.

Johnson County, Wyoming, is the kind of remote, quiet Western community where life revolves around cattle—it was the site of an infamous 19th-century armed battle between cowboys and suspected cattle rustlers. The county ranks only 11th statewide for oil production, but it holds the No. 1 ranking nationwide for a more ignominious distinction: It has 249 new, high-risk oil and gas wells that the federal government has failed to inspect for compliance with safety and environmental standards.

Johnson County may have the most uninspected wells, but it's far from the only place where the problem exists. In fact, of all 3,486 oil and gas wells drilled on federal and Native American land from 2009 to 2012 that were identified by the Bureau of Land Management as high risk for pollution, 40 percent were not inspected at the most important stage of their development, according to records the BLM provided to Climate Desk.

"In a perfect world, we'd love to get to all those wells," said Steven Wells, chief of the BLM's Fluid Minerals Division. "Unfortunately we've been fighting an uphill battle. We hope that at some point we'll be able to catch up."

The map and chart below identify where these wells are located, by county:

[littlemissmartypants]

1. Kicking. nt