A coalition of local community, energy, and labor leaders gathered last week to launch a new multi-county initiative that will lead efforts to plug abandoned and orphaned wells across the region. The Washington County Steering Committee is a joint effort between the Washington/Greene Central Labor Council and Union Energy Pennsylvania to take advantage of over $19 million in newly allocated funding for well remediation efforts in the 2026 Pennsylvania State Budget.

Addressing a Long-Standing Issue

According to Washington/Greene Central Labor Council (WGCLC) President Donna Patrina, over 300,000 uncapped wells from the oil and natural gas extraction industry remain across the commonwealth, primarily in western Pennsylvania. These wells can leak toxic chemicals and methane gas into the environment for decades after they are decommissioned, posing a significant threat to local communities.

The new group will meet monthly to generate a range of solutions to address these wells, utilizing the combined expertise and resources of labor, environmental, workforce, education, faith, community, and civic organizations. Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President and Union Energy Executive Council President Angela Ferritto attended the event to discuss the role organized labor can play in capping these wells while creating strong union jobs for Washington County families.

The Shapiro administration has funded efforts to address these wells, including investing millions of new capital into programs to both plug wells and train specialized Qualified Well Pluggers. The DEP is working to shrink Pennsylvania’s inventory of orphaned and abandoned wells, creating jobs, reducing methane emissions, and helping communities reclaim land that has been impacted for generations.

Original reporting: Herald-Standard – latest news for Uniontown, Pennsylvania — read the source article.