PENN STATE RESEARCHERS ESTIMATE THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 200,000 ABANDONED OIL AND GAS WELLS THROUGHOUT THE STATE, AND THE UNIVERSITY IS ASKING LOCAL RESIDENTS FOR HELP FINDING THEM
January 30, 2015
Penn State
researchers estimate there are approximately 200,000 abandoned oil and gas
wells throughout the state, and the university is asking local residents for
help finding them.
The school
is seeking "citizen scientists" who can be taught to research and
look for orphaned and abandoned wells, locate them and learn if they are
releasing methane.
About 16
midstate residents are attending a lunch meeting at noon Saturday at the Nittany Lion Inn in State College to learn
about the project.
Dozens more
have expressed interest in helping find the wells, but can't attend the meeting
Saturday, according to Terry Noll,
project coordinator and research assistant at the university's Marcellus Center for Outreach and Research.
Penn State
researchers will visit local communities in late February and early March,
teaching citizen scientists how to do the work.
From April
through August, the university will lead field trips to find the wells, Noll
said.
Before
1956, oil and gas drillers didn't have to register their wells with the state.
Noll
expects there are many abandoned wells in Titusville and Oil City, which were
home to an oil rush in the late 1800s.
If you're
interested in finding some of those wells, contact Noll at tmg3@psu.edu or 814-865-6598.
