May 19: Orphaned & Abandoned Wells

Orphaned and Abandoned Wells
Laurie Barr, Save Our Streams

Hundreds of thousands of orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells dot Pennsylvania. Only a small fraction of the wells have been plugged. The vast majority are in varying states of disrepair, many considered to be super-emitters of methane.

Laurie Barr and her associates at Save Our Streams PA started a project they called Scavenger Hunt PA to locate and photograph wells and test them for leaks.  Laurie's efforts have been nationally recognized by the press and the research community alike.  Last May, she began working on a documentary, Releasing Methane, that looks at the issue in oil and gas producing states across the country to provide "a comprehensive picture of the environmental and regulatory issues surrounding abandoned oil and gas wells and emerging solutions."

Please REGISTER HERE* before 7:30 on May19th.

*IMPORTANT: There seems to be some confusion about how registration for the webinar works. When we announce the coming week's webinar, we include a registration link, like the one you see above.  We do that because security concerns were raised about Zoom as it became more popular when COVID-19 struck.  One of the security measures we have employed is to share the Zoom call link with only the people who have registered. However, the webinar will also be livestreamed via the Better Path Facebook page.

We send the Zoom link to you via email on the Monday evening before the Tuesday webinar.  Some people register the day of the webinar, so we ask that you register no later than a half-hour before the webinar starts so we have time to send you the link. After that, we're busy setting up the webinar, getting the Facebook livestream started, welcoming people to the webinar, and eventually conducting it. It's difficult or sometimes impossible to check and respond to last-minute registrations and emails requesting the link.

Note that asking that you register by 7:30 does not mean that you have to join the webinar at 7:30. In fact, we see people join well after the webinar has begun at 8.

We will continue to try to email people who register after 7:30, but we can't promise that we'll always be able to do it, so please don't hesitate to register any time during the week before the webinar even if you're not sure you can attend.