More than 117,000 unplugged orphan oil and gas wells are documented across the US, with abandoned wells estimated to leak up to 281,000 tons of methane a year

Thousands of old oil and gas wells, located underneath forests, farmlands and even housing estates throughout the US, no longer provide fuel but continue to pose environmental risks. The issue of abandoned oil and gas wells, some of which are decades old, has become a growing concern for the US government, which has struggled to secure enough funding to seal them.

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