Washington, D.C. - The Bureau of Land Management has awarded multiple contracts, supported through funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to plug and remediate orphaned oil and gas wells on America’s public lands. The Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contracts will go to six small businesses from across the country to provide environmental support services including project planning, evaluation, and regulatory compliance in support of orphaned oil and gas well plugging operations.
“Cleaning up and plugging orphaned oil and gas wells protects clean water and stops harmful methane pollution, all while advancing environmental justice and creating good-paying jobs for small businesses," said BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning. “Today marks an important milestone in achieving President Biden’s climate and legacy pollution cleanup goals."
The term orphaned well refers to wells not used for an authorized purpose (such as production, injection, or monitoring) and where no operator can be located or the operator is unable to plug, remediate, and reclaim the well site.
The contract awards announced today are part of a multi-agency effort that includes the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. These awards are the first of two separate contracts to support the Federal Orphaned Well Program. The BLM plans to announce a second round of awards in the coming months.
The awardees are:
- AEC-Weston JV, LLC of Oak Ridge, Tenn.
- Applied Intellect - Trihydro 8a JV II LLC of Cranberry Township, Pa.
- DCR Services & Construction, Inc. of Detroit, Mich.
- SC&A, Inc. of Arlington, Va.
- SLICOM of Oak Ridge, Tenn.
- Toeroek Associates, Inc. of Lakewood, Colo.
The maximum value for each contract is $50 million, and the award includes a one-year base ordering period with four subsequent one-year ordering periods.
Source: Bureau of Land Management