The Kansas Corporation Commission has been awarded a $25 million initial Federal Grant to help plug abandoned wells in the state. The Grant is part of billions of dollars set aside by the Federal government to help states remediate abandoned wells. The KCC says it will use the initial money to pay for eight projects involving more that 2,300 abandoned wells over the next two to three years. In the seven county area that includes Franklin, Anderson, Miami, Linn, Johnson, Douglas and Jefferson Counties, 668 old wells will be plugged. Left unsealed or improperly plugged, the wells can leak and threaten water supplies and cause other environmental hazards.
There are estimated to be 19,000 abandoned wells in eastern Kansas. An estimated 81,000 abandoned drilling sites in the United States leak pollution and emit methane gas into the environment. About 9 million Americans live within one mile of these sites. Most of the states, including Kansas, are receiving $25 million each. Arkansas and Mississippi are receiving $5million each.
