NY Times - Taxpayers May Have to Pay to Cap Recently Abandoned Gas Wells

[JPZenger]

This article is about Wyoming, but it could happen elsewhere.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/us/state-may-act-to-plug-abandoned-wyoming-wells-as-natural-gas-boom-ends.html?src=recg&_r=0

Excerpts:

"Hundreds of abandoned drilling wells dot eastern Wyoming like sagebrush, vestiges of a natural gas boom that has been drying up in recent years as prices have plummeted.

The companies that once operated the wells have all but vanished into the prairie, many seeking bankruptcy protection and unable to pay the cost of reclaiming the land they leased. Recent estimates have put the number of abandoned drilling operations in Wyoming at more than 1,200, and state officials said several thousand more might soon be orphaned by their operators.

Wyoming officials are now trying to address the problem amid concerns from landowners that the wells could contaminate groundwater and are a blight on the land. Gov. Mead proposed allocating $3 million to pay for plugging the wells and reclaiming the land around them. And the issue is expected to be debated during next year’s legislative session as lawmakers seek to hold drilling companies more accountable."

[BootinUp]

1. The free market will fix it.

[Squinch]

2. Privatize profits, socialize losses. It's what all the cool kids do.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Like this has never happened before!

It happens all the time. This is why a state that is smart is regulating these companies, protecting citizens, requiring bonding to cover costs in the event that the company fails, and collecting enough in taxes and other compensations to allow for the money to do what the companies will not do while they are still in business and money can be gotten. This is not rocket science.

[Scuba]

4. What State is that? Norway?

[Curmudgeoness]

5. Well, we know what state it isn't. nt