Senator Cramer surveys well reclamations

MINOT, N.D. (KUMV) - Congress passed the Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act in 2021, which also provided funding to plug and reclaim abandoned oil wells. This week, Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, visited orphaned well sites near Minot to see their progress.

The U.S. Department of the Interior said orphaned wells pose environmental hazards and jeopardize public health and safety. Cramer’s REGROW Act, which was part of the infrastructure bill, secured more than $560 million to states to reclaim these wells.

“What we are doing is copying a really good idea that was presented to us by the state of North Dakota using CARES ACT dollars to keep oilfield workers working in an economic downturn... This is a piece of legislation where federal dollars went to good use,” said Cramer.

North Dakota received $25 million in federal dollars last year to reclaim wells in North Dakota.

“The NDIC is very grateful to Senator Cramer for sponsoring the REGROW section of the IIJA. The well plugging projects funded by his legislation are providing job opportunities for thousands of workers while fast-tracking environmental restoration,” said Lynn Helms, Department of Mineral Resources Director in a statement.

The Department of the Interior said there are more than 131 thousand documented orphaned wells in North Dakota and estimates between 310,000 and 800,000 undocumented orphaned wells in the nation.

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