The Well Done Foundation (“WDF”) announced today that it is working with Seneca Resources Company LLC (“Seneca”), the exploration and production segment of Western New York-based National Fuel Gas Company (NYSE: NFG), on WDF’s first East Coast orphaned gas well plugging activity. Seneca, through its contribution to WDF, will sponsor the Foundation’s first project in the state of Pennsylvania.
This project will begin on Tuesday, September 28 in Bradford, Pa. on property owned by the Daugherty family.
“This legacy well is over a century old and sits literally in the backyard of the Daugherty family home in Bradford proper,” said Curtis Shuck, Chairman of WDF. “We’re very excited to be kicking off our ‘one well at a time’ programmatic approach in Pennsylvania and plugging this first well with sponsorship from Seneca.”
“Seneca is excited to sponsor this important project, which further exemplifies our dedication to sustainability and community engagement,” added Justin Loweth, President of Seneca. “We applaud the WDF’s mission to reduce emissions and environmental impacts through the plugging of abandoned wells.”
The “Well Done Process” is a multi-step initiative built upon public and private partnerships. WDF identifies high-emitting orphaned and abandoned oil or gas wells and then qualifies them through a rigorous measurement and monitoring regiment. Through partnerships with regulatory bodies and landowners, WDF develops a plan to plug the wells and restore impacted surfaces areas. Funding for each project is made possible through corporate or individual sponsorships. WDF initiated talks with the State of Pennsylvania earlier this year and has received the full support of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
“Pennsylvania has a significant backlog of orphaned and abandoned wells that it is working to address,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “Having stewards like the Well Done Foundation helps us accelerate well plugging, ridding our state of toxic and harmful unplugged orphaned and abandoned wells.”
The Well Done Foundation has also partnered with the Innovation Park at Pennsylvania State University, providing office space and serving as WDF’s Pennsylvania headquarters. Bradford-based Dallas-Morris Drilling Inc., a fourth-generation family-owned oil and gas services company based in Bradford, will be plugging the well.
About the Well Done Foundation
Formed in 2019, the Well Done Foundation enables the oil and gas industry to partner with the conservation community to create an alternative pathway to success that benefits all. The Well Done Process, which does not include any public funding, creates a strategic partnership among regulators, surface owners and adoptive parties, leading to a safe and seamless system that provides cost-effective and lasting results that improve the environment while working with the industry in a transparent structure that delivers value to its Triple Bottom Line: community partnerships (people), environmental responsibility (planet), and economic benefits (profit). Montana’s Golden Triangle Region is home to some of the richest soil and most productive growing acres in the United States. The Well Done Foundation works with its partners to transition the orphaned well sites into their next levels of service. For more information, visit https://welldonefoundation.com/.