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Will Thousands of Orphan Wells Be Safely Plugged? [1]

Abandoned oil and gas wells are found in significant numbers in some 27 states. Reporters who want to track their status can dig into several databases, but will need to support their data crunching with lots of shoe-leather and ground-truth reporting. Reporter’s Toolbox has insights into what the databases offer. Plus, a primer on API numbers.

SEJ Publication Types: 
Reporters Toolbox [2]
Topics on the Beat: 
Air [3]
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Health [10]
Infrastructure [11]
Journalism & Media [12]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Natural Resources [14]
Policy [15]
Pollution [16]
Technology [17]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [19]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [20]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [21]
International [22]
Canada [23]
Visibility: 
Public [24]
  • Read more about Will Thousands of Orphan Wells Be Safely Plugged? [1]
March 9, 2023

The Changing Geopolitics of Critical Minerals and the Future of the Clean Energy Transition [25]

Join the Wilson Center virtually or in person in Washington, DC, 9:00-10:30 a.m. ET, to examine the challenges, policy options and strategic diplomatic alliances needed to minimize confrontation in order to realize individual national commitments and climate emission reduction targets, and more.

Other Events [26]
Visibility: 
Public [24]
Topics on the Beat: 
Climate Change [4]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Politics [8]
Government [9]
Natural Resources [14]
Policy [15]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [19]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [20]
International [22]
Asia [27]

"Solar For All? U.S. Cities Take Green Power To Low-Income Homes" [28]

"To hear Emil King tell it, the benefits of the 8,000-odd solar panels shimmering before him on an industrial lot in Washington D.C. go far beyond helping the U.S. capital city fight climate change."

Climate Change [4]
Consumer [29]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Justice [30]
Public [24]
National (U.S.) [19]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [20]
Source: Thomson Reuters Fdn. [31], 03/01/2023
  • Read more about "Solar For All? U.S. Cities Take Green Power To Low-Income Homes" [28]

"Maryland PSC Appointee With Ties To Fossil Fuels Withdraws" [32]

"Gov. Wes Moore’s nominee to the Maryland Public Service Commission withdrew from consideration on Tuesday, after environmentalists criticized the appointment of someone who was an official in the fossil fuel industry."

Climate Change [4]
Consumer [29]
Economy & Business [5]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Politics [8]
Infrastructure [11]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Public [24]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [20]
Source: AP [33], 03/01/2023
  • Read more about "Maryland PSC Appointee With Ties To Fossil Fuels Withdraws" [32]
May 15, 2024

DEADLINE: Planet Forward's Summer Seminar in Multimedia Storytelling [34]

Join Planet Forward for its 2024 Summer Seminar in Multimedia Storytelling, June 2-7 in Washington, D.C. The program, hosted by SEJ member Lisa Palmer, will be organized around storytelling techniques and tools, and topical themes. Some scholarships are available. Deadline: May 15.

Workshops and Fellowships [35]
Visibility: 
Public [24]
Topics on the Beat: 
Biodiversity [36]
Diversity [37]
Environmental Health [7]
Health [10]
Journalism & Media [12]
Planning & Growth [38]
Science [39]
Technology [17]
Water & Oceans [18]
Region: 
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [20]

"Orphan Well Cleanup in Pennsylvania Underscores Enormity of Task" [40]

"Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited the Pittsburgh area Thursday to announce the plugging of the first 10 abandoned oil and gas wells in the area paid for with funds from the 2021 infrastructure law."

Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Pollution [16]
Public [24]
National (U.S.) [19]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [20]
Source: Bloomberg Environment [41], 02/14/2023
  • Read more about "Orphan Well Cleanup in Pennsylvania Underscores Enormity of Task" [40]

Lawsuit Seeks Medical Testing After Toxic Train Derailment [42]

"Residents who filed a federal lawsuit in the fiery derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals along the Ohio-Pennsylvania line are seeking to force Norfolk Southern to set up health monitoring for residents in both states."

Chemicals [43]
Disasters [44]
Environmental Justice [30]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Pollution [16]
Water & Oceans [18]
Public [24]
National (U.S.) [19]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [45]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [20]
Source: AP [46], 02/13/2023
  • Read more about Lawsuit Seeks Medical Testing After Toxic Train Derailment [42]

"Making Sense of Menhaden" [47]

"In the Chesapeake Bay, a fight is raging over a little fish with an outsized importance."

"Over the week of July 4, 2022, people flocking to Chesapeake Bay’s Virginia coast were met at the water’s edge by hordes of ghastly visitors: schools of hand-sized silver menhaden washed up by the thousands, their carcasses floating in the surf in the summer’s heat. By the week’s end, as the fish liquefied in a dumpster at a nearby wharf, circulating petitions were gaining signatures.

Fish & Fisheries [48]
Water & Oceans [18]
Public [24]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [20]
Source: Hakai [49], 02/07/2023
  • Read more about "Making Sense of Menhaden" [47]

Pair Is Charged With Plotting to ‘Destroy Baltimore’ by Attacking Grid [50]

"Federal law enforcement officials have arrested two people accused of conspiring to “completely destroy Baltimore” in what they described on Monday as a racist plot to demolish the power grid in a predominantly Black city."

Disasters [44]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Infrastructure [11]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Public [24]
National (U.S.) [19]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [20]
Source: NYTimes [51], 02/07/2023
  • Read more about Pair Is Charged With Plotting to ‘Destroy Baltimore’ by Attacking Grid [50]

Pa. Drillers Abandoned Thousands Of Gas Wells In 5 Years, Ignored State Law [52]

"Pennsylvania’s environmental regulator says, over a five-year period, more than half of conventional oil and gas operators failed to report how much gas they pulled from the ground and whether their equipment is safe."

Chemicals [43]
Climate Change [4]
Energy & Fuel [6]
Environmental Health [7]
Laws & Regulations [13]
Pollution [16]
Public [24]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [20]
Source: NPR [53], 01/26/2023
  • Read more about Pa. Drillers Abandoned Thousands Of Gas Wells In 5 Years, Ignored State Law [52]

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Links
[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/reporters-toolbox/will-thousands-orphan-wells-be-safely-plugged [2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/reporter%E2%80%99s-toolbox [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health [11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/infrastructure [12] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [13] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [15] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/policy [16] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [17] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/technology [18] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [19] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [20] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mid-atlantic [21] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest [22] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international [23] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/canada [24] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [25] https://www.sej.org/calendar/changing-geopolitics-critical-minerals-and-future-clean-energy-transition [26] https://www.sej.org/category/event-type/other-events [27] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/asia [28] https://www.sej.org/headlines/solar-all-us-cities-take-green-power-low-income-homes [29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/consumer [30] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice [31] https://www.context.news/green-cities/solar-for-all-us-cities-take-green-power-to-low-income-homes [32] https://www.sej.org/headlines/maryland-psc-appointee-ties-fossil-fuels-withdraws [33] https://apnews.com/article/maryland-psc-appointee-juan-alvarado-natural-gas-47c654f85025bba011b9a2bd91065650 [34] https://www.sej.org/calendar/deadline-planet-forwards-seminar-multimedia-storytelling [35] https://www.sej.org/category/event-type/workshops/fellowships [36] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/biodiversity-1 [37] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/diversity [38] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/cities-towns [39] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/science [40] https://www.sej.org/headlines/orphan-well-cleanup-pennsylvania-underscores-enormity-task [41] https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/orphan-well-cleanup-in-pennsylvania-underscores-enormity-of-task?context=search&index=2 [42] https://www.sej.org/headlines/lawsuit-seeks-medical-testing-after-toxic-train-derailment [43] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics [44] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [45] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-lakes [46] https://apnews.com/article/legal-proceedings-pennsylvania-ohio-health-business-820cf081c0e068a47db2e141a3f988e6 [47] https://www.sej.org/headlines/making-sense-menhaden [48] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries [49] https://hakaimagazine.com/news/making-sense-of-menhaden/ [50] https://www.sej.org/headlines/pair-charged-plotting-destroy-baltimore-attacking-grid [51] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/us/politics/baltimore-electrical-grid-attack.html [52] https://www.sej.org/headlines/pa-drillers-abandoned-thousands-gas-wells-5-years-ignored-state-law [53] https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2023/01/24/pa-drillers-abandoned-thousands-of-natural-gas-wells-in-5-years-ignored-state-law-report-says/ [54] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/48/all/target%3D%26amp%3B [55] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/48/all/target%3D%26amp%3B?page=27 [56] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/48/all/target%3D%26amp%3B?page=24 [57] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/48/all/target%3D%26amp%3B?page=25 [58] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/48/all/target%3D%26amp%3B?page=26 [59] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/48/all/target%3D%26amp%3B?page=29 [60] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/48/all/target%3D%26amp%3B?page=30 [61] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/48/all/target%3D%26amp%3B?page=31 [62] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/48/all/target%3D%26amp%3B?page=32 [63] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/48/all/target%3D%26amp%3B?page=140