Plugging Orphaned Oil Wells at Big Thicket National Preserve

An orphaned well site before cleanup. Its wellhead was cracked and leaking methane, and tanks on site were half full of production fluid, harming park resources. Photo by Andrew Bennett, National Park Service.

Big Thicket National Preserve in Texas held orphaned oil and gas wells and sites — wells left with no one responsible for them — that endangered people and posed environmental risks. Left alone, those risks, and the cost of dealing with them, could have grown over time. With $550,000 from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the National Park Service and the Texas Railroad Commission set out to plug, abandon and reclaim seven orphaned well sites in the preserve, meeting state and federal rules for oil and gas operations. The project was completed in February 2024.

What the work involved

The two agencies shared the goal of properly plugging and abandoning the preserve's orphaned wells and reclaiming the land around them. The work included:

• removing well casings and plugging wells to current federal and state standards;
• clearing out facility equipment, surface pipe, trash and safety hazards;
• blending the well sites back into the surrounding undisturbed land;
• re-establishing vegetation free of invasive or noxious weeds.

Results

• Three orphaned wells were plugged and reclaimed.
• Three more orphaned well sites were reclaimed and their contamination cleaned up.
• One well remained in planning because it was extremely hard to reach.

One site, the Arco Rafferty #2, was heavily contaminated with heavy metals. Decontamination restored it to its condition before drilling.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds the resilience and restoration of the nation's lands, skies and waters and expands conservation and recreation, with results visitors can see such as repaired trails and campgrounds, removal of invasive species, and healthy wetlands, grasslands and forests.

Sources

• National Park Service, Big Thicket National Preserve: "Project Profile: Orphaned Wells at Big Thicket National Preserve." The source labels the $550,000 as FY23 funding but also refers to FY22 funding, and its summary mentions two wells; the fiscal year is not given here.