PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Abandoned and orphan gas wells are littered around the state.
The state knows of about 30,000 wells that need to be capped, as some of them are leaking gasses into the air and environment. Work began on Tuesday on Scrubgrass Road in Scott Township to address a major problem.
“Most of the time when you drive past there, you get a whiff of it and you know it’s there. It’s been there for years,” neighbor Carolyn Camino said.
The two the state is working on in Scott Township are just down the hill from houses and families. The governor committed $11 million to addressing the problem on Tuesday.
“There’s been talk about that for years, that there’s been some sort of gas down there that needed to be capped,” Camino said.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection knows of 30,000 wells that need to be capped. State data shows most are on the western side of the mountains in the state. It’s believed the real number is much higher.