DOI awards $560 million for orphan well cleanup

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The Interior Department is giving 24 states a total of $560 million to start cleaning high-priority derelict oil and gas wells abandoned on state and private land, reports the Associated Press.

Louisiana’s portion would plug 250 to 900 wells near low-income communities, providing a chance for unemployed energy workers from such areas to learn how to plug orphaned wells and get work, a separate release said. Read the full story.