Interior Department Commemorates
“Legacy Pollution Week”
Last week, the Department of the Interior commemorated “Legacy Pollution Week,” a chance to honor the work that has been done and the opportunities ahead through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Law delivers the largest investment in tackling legacy pollution in American history, including a historic $16 billion investment to plug orphaned oil and gas wells and reclaim abandoned mine lands (AML). These resources will help communities eliminate dangerous conditions and pollution caused by past extraction activities, create good-paying jobs and strengthen local economies.
Department leaders visited several sites across the country to commemorate the ongoing work to address the impacts of legacy pollution. Secretary Deb Haaland traveled to Lexington, Kentucky and Chicago, Illinois to see and learn how these sites are affecting communities. She met with labor leaders in both cities to highlight how these historic investments will create good-paying union jobs, including by prioritizing projects that employ dislocated coal industry workers.
Select media coverage is below.
Secretary Deb Haaland and White House Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu Instagram Live
Secretary Haaland hosted an Instagram Live with White House Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu, where the two leaders highlighted the direct impacts these investments are having for working families across the country.
Biden-Harris Administration Announces Funding to Create Good-Paying Union Jobs and Catalyze Economic Revitalization by Reclaiming Abandoned Mine Lands
On Thursday, Secretary Haaland traveled to Kentucky to announce a more than $74 million investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to create good-paying union jobs and catalyze economic opportunity by reclaiming abandoned mine lands (AML) in the state. The Department later announced more than $244 million for Pennsylvania to reclaim AML sites, the largest award expected to be distributed in Fiscal Year 2022.
LEX 18: President Biden: $74 million investment to create union jobs, reclaim abandoned mine lands in Kentucky
The Biden administration has announced a $74,252,680 investment to create "good-paying" union jobs and reclaim abandoned mine lands (AML) in Kentucky. The investment comes from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which allocates a total of $11.3 billion in AML funding over 15 years. The funding will help clean up hazardous sites, as well as help communities eliminate dangerous environmental conditions and pollution caused by past coal mining.
Spectrum News: Interior Sec. announces plan to improve toxic sites, create jobs in Kentucky visit
The U.S. Interior Department is intensifying efforts to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells and abandoned mines to protect people from toxins and waste. As part of those efforts, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Department Deb Haaland visited a remediated site in Pineville, Kentucky on Thursday and met with state leaders in Lexington later the same day. During her visit, she announced that $74 million from President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law will be used this year to reclaim abandoned mine lands and create union jobs in Kentucky.
President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Conserve Ecosystems, Clean Up Legacy Pollution Sites Across the Country
The Department of the Interior announced nearly $10 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for 17 project sites to address legacy pollution and conserve ecosystems.
NM Political Report: Three watersheds impacted by historic mining receive federal funding
New Mexico will receive $300,000 in federal funds made available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for restoration projects in three watersheds in Luna and Santa Fe counties. These watersheds—Cooke’s Peak, Fluorite Ridge and New Placers—are located in areas where mining and milling operations have occurred in the past. The funding will help with removal of invasive vegetation, re-contouring of streambeds and mitigating for mine tailings. It will also fund revegetation with native seeds.
Fish and Wildlife Service Awards Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Funds to Louisiana to Address Orphaned Well Hazards on Five National Wildlife Refuges
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (LDNR), announced it awarded $12.7 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for contracts to plug and remediate 151 orphaned wells on five national wildlife refuges in Louisiana.
NOLA.com: Feds to plug dozens of old, leaky oil wells in these havens for Louisiana wildlife
Many of Louisiana’s most prized and protected natural landscapes are dotted with the leaking, rusty remnants of the oil industry's boom years. A federally-funded program is beginning work this week to plug about 150 of these ‘orphan’ oil and gas wells in five national wildlife refuges in Louisiana. The work is funded with $12.7 million from last year’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a massive bipartisan law that’s putting $1.2 trillion into roads, bridges, ports and other infrastructure.
KTVE-KARD: Three NELA wildlife refuges included in $12.7M award from US Fish Wildlife Service
On Thursday, October 20, 2022, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in partnership with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, is awarding $12.7 million in funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for contracts to plug and remediate 151 orphaned wells on three national wildlife refuges in Northeast Louisiana. The announcement comes during the Interior Department’s “Legacy Pollution Week,” an opportunity to honor the work that has been done, and the opportunities ahead.
Bureau of Land Management Begins Work to Clean Up Orphaned Wells in California
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) highlighted a $33 million investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells in national parks, national wildlife refuges and other public lands, including site locations on BLM land in California.
Bakersfield Californian: Feds step in to plug deep, dry oil well in Midway-Sunset
A deep, disappointment of an oil well that has sat idle for eight years near the Kern County border is finally getting some attention following its owner's bankruptcy in 2017. The federal government is preparing to monitor and then plug the 12,000-foot Sevier Well, located a half-mile from the Carrizo Plain National Monument in the prolific Midway-Sunset Oil Field. At an estimated taxpayer cost of $300,000, the work adds to growing momentum in California to properly plug and abandon orphan oil and gas wells for the sake of the climate, groundwater and endangered species.
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