Lafayette-based Lemoine Disaster Recovery and Houston-based Garner Environmental Services will lead the first phase of a major effort to plug and clean up orphaned oil and gas wells in north Louisiana, The Center Square reports.
Supported by at least $30 million in federal funding, the program will focus on the Monroe and Shreveport districts, which contain more than 4,200 of the state’s roughly 6,400 documented orphaned wells. Many were abandoned after oil and gas market downturns, including the 2014-2016 supply glut and the 2020 pandemic-related collapse in demand.
State officials say past bonding and oversight requirements were insufficient to prevent companies from leaving wells behind, a problem highlighted by recent reports by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s office. In response, the state created the Natural Resources Trust Authority to require stronger financial assurances from active operators and transferred oversight of the cleanup program to the Department of Conservation and Energy…