NEWS
RRC plug more than 430 orphaned wells so far
AUSTIN – The Railroad Commission of Texas highlighted the agency’s extensive work and expertise in plugging orphaned oil and gas wells during a visit from U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in Houston last week.
When a well ceases production, the majority of operators fulfill their obligations and responsibly plug their wells to prevent leaks and protect the environment. Last year 88% of wells plugged were plugged by operators. The RRC steps in to plug wells when an operator goes out of business and collects on the operator’s financial assurance and seeks reimbursement through legal proceedings.
In October, Texas was the first state in the nation to begin plugging orphaned oil and gas wells using an initial grant from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The RRC has plugged more than 430 wells so far with that federal grant.
Those well pluggings supplement RRC’s annual well pluggings in the State Managed Plugging Program (SMP). No taxpayer money is used at all for the SMP; all the funding is through oil and gas industry revenue including, but not limited to multiple fees, and bonds and financial security paid by oil and gas operators.
The next inflow of federal well plugging funds will be through formula grants. RRC submitted comments on draft formula grant guidance recently issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The RRC is concerned the draft requirements place administrative burdens that go beyond the scope of the legislation that authorized the well plugging funds. There’s also concern about a proposed phased approach to releasing formula funds, versus releasing the total amount at once.
“Among all oil and gas producing states, we’re a leader in addressing orphan wells, and the Legislature has passed several measures to create incentives to reduce orphan wells in Texas,” said Wei Wang, RRC Executive Director. “We’ve built great momentum using federal funds to plug wells, and we urged Secretary Haaland to help us keep the momentum. Less than two percent of oil and gas wells in the state are orphaned, and getting the formula funds quickly will help us proceed without unnecessary interruptions.”
Clay Woodul, RRC Assistant Director of the Oil and Gas Division for Field Operations, shows Secretary Deb Haaland and members of Congress an orphaned well scheduled to be plugged in Houston.
The RRC anticipates plugging about 800 wells this fiscal year using the initial federal grant, which would be in addition to at least 1,000 well pluggings through the SMP.
The agency’s comments on the draft formula grant guidance can be found on the RRC website at https://www.rrc.texas.gov/media/4ilhvfga/iija-draft-formual-grant_rrc-texas-comments_2_24.pdf
The Department of Public Safety has provided information on an auto vs. motorcycle accident that reportedly occurred on July 4.
James Lee Hilton, Nocona, was driving a 2019 Harley-Davidson motorcycle and Daniel Parra, Chico, was driving a 2018 Ford Fiesta. Both vehicles were north on State Highway 101 outside Sunset with the motorcycle behind the car.
Parra was attempting to turn left on Farm-to-Market Road 2265 when the motorcyclist attempted to unsafely pass to the left states the report. The bike struck the left side of the Fiesta. Both vehicles came to rest off the roadway on the northwest corner of SH 101 and FM 2265.
Hilton was transported to Denton Medical City with
A major crash on East Wise in front of the Second Monday parking on July 11 shut down traffic for several hours in the morning and sent two people to the Bowie emergency room.
The accident occurred at 9:53 a.m. Thursday at 1616 E. Wise involving a large sign installation truck and an SUV.
Briana Rollison, Bowie, was driving a 2001 Ford Expedition east in the 1600 block of E. Wise and the large truck from Turner Signs System of Richland Hills was traveling west on East Wise driven by Joshua Thompson.
The preliminary accident report states Thompson lost control of the vehicle crossing the double yellow line striking the SUV in front of the Parker Properties and Farm Services Building. The SUV was knocked into the ditch and later made it back on the roadway.
The truck rolled on the passenger side and slid about 50-100 feet west of the incident location. Skid marks from the truck were observed to start approximately 300-350 feet east of the crash location.
See the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Bowie City Councilors this week got their first look at the 2024-25 proposed budget seeing a balanced plan with a total operational budget of $23,296,885 in expenses, which is a little more than $1.4 million above the previous year’s budget.
Mayor Gaylynn Burris said Monday night the budget looks “eerily familiar” to last year, despite adding a few equipment purchases. City Manager Bert Cunningham said he had already slashed more than $300,000 from the department requests in order to get a balanced budget.
The utility fund is balanced with expenses of $12,595,995 and revenues projected at $12,601,000. In the general fund revenues are projected at $10,705,568 with expenses at $10,700,890. Total budget expenses are $23,296,885 and overall revenue projected at $23,306,568. Cunningham said it leaves a small margin to set forth a balanced budget.
Read the full story in the weekend Bowie News.
Top photo: New chip and seal was laid on Elba and Lamb this week repairing well-worn roads near the Nelson/Mill drainage project. (Photo by Barbara Green)
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