Unlocking Solutions: Innovative Approaches to Identifying and Mitigating the Environmental Impacts of Undocumented Orphan Wells in the United States.

ABSTRACT: In the United States, hundreds of thousands of undocumented orphan wells have been abandoned, leaving the burden of managing environmental hazards to governmental agencies or the public. These wells, a result of over a century of fossil fuel extraction without adequate regulation, lack basic information like location and depth, emit greenhouse gases, and leak toxic substances into groundwater. For most of these wells, basic information such as well location and depth is unknown or unverified. Addressing this issue necessitates innovative and interdisciplinary approaches for locating, characterizing, and mitigating their environmental impacts. Our survey of the United States revealed the need for tools to identify well locations and assess conditions, prompting the development of technologi

SUBMITTER: O'Malley D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11542881 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature