Top Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee are asking a congressional watchdog to investigate energy activity on public lands, including orphaned oil wells, oil and gas companies’ leasing practices and ways to advance geothermal.
Ranking Member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), along with top Democrats on various subcommittees, asked for the reports in three separate letters Thursday to the Government Accountability Office.
In one letter, the Democrats said they need information on how the Bureau of Land Management is counting idled and orphaned wells and whether it is addressing the hazards of abandoned wells in a timely fashion.
The issue of Idled and orphan wells is a perennial one for the committee, which has jurisdiction over energy development on public lands. A $4.7 billion orphan well cleanup fund created by the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022 included $250 million to plug wells on public lands like national parks.
