Wyden, Merkley, Dexter Reintroduce Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil and Gas Wells, Platforms and Pipelines

Wyden, Merkley, Dexter Reintroduce Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil and Gas Wells, Platforms and Pipelines

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley as well as U.S. Representative Maxine Dexter said today they have reintroduced legislation in the Senate and House that would address the growing threat of abandoned offshore oil and gas infrastructure to marine ecosystems and the environment in Oregon and nationwide as a result of climate change and extreme weather.

The Oregon lawmakers' Plug Offshore Wells Act would direct the Department of the Interior to submit an annual, publicly available report to Congress on the status of decommissioning offshore oil and gas wells, platforms, and pipelines, in addition to reducing financial burdens on taxpayers by increasing oversight and accountability of Big Oil companies.

"Big Oil has been ditching its responsibilities while profiteering off of our natural resources in this country for too long," Wyden said. "At a time when oil companies are making record profits, it is not too much to ask that they use some of those profits to clean up many of the messes their profiteering has left behind."

"Orphaned wells are an environmental catastrophe waiting to explode," Merkley said. "They pose the possibility of massive damage to the ocean by leaking oil and gas and must be addressed quickly."

"Abandoned offshore oil and gas infrastructure is a growing threat to our oceans and coastal communities," Dexter said. "For too long, oil companies have walked away from their responsibilities, leaving the public to foot the bill. This legislation brings transparency and accountability to a system that has let Big Oil off the hook, and it ensures we are protecting both our environment and taxpayer dollars. This bill brings transparency, saves taxpayers dollars, and helps us hold corporations accountable that disregard the health and safety of our people and our planet."

In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the bill is cosponsored in the Senate by U.S. Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.). In the House, the bill was led by Dexter and cosponsored by Reps. Tim Kennedy (D-NY-26), Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01), Dave Min (D-CA-47), Julia Brownley (D-CA-26), Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC-AL), Kevin Mullin (D-CA-15), and Mike Levin (D-CA-49).

Idle and abandoned offshore oil and gas infrastructure increase the chance of oil leaks and pose environmental risks to marine ecosystems, especially as hurricanes and tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico increase in strength and frequency. Delays and defaults in decommissioning offshore oil and gas infrastructure also leave U.S. taxpayers responsible for covering the costs of decommissioning abandoned platforms and wells, an expensive and lengthy process.

According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), more than 2,700 wells and 500 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico are overdue for decommissioning. The Plug Offshore Wells Act would follow GAO's recommended steps on how Congress can address the backlog of overdue decommissioning requirements, including instituting new reporting requirements from the Interior Department to Congress on the status of decommissioning.

The Plug Offshore Wells Act is supported by the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oceana, Ocean Conservancy, and the Surfrider Foundation.

A summary of the bill is here.

Full text of the bill is here.