CHEYENNE — The Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming has received a $2.9 million investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to clean up nine orphaned well sites in the Casper, Lander, Rock Springs and Worland field offices. The restoration funds are part of a $50 million investment announced on Feb. 22 by the Department of the Interior to clean up legacy pollution sites.  

“The investments we are making in Wyoming this year will improve public health and safety, create good paying jobs, spur economic growth, and help our state address these orphaned well sites,” said BLM Wyoming State Director Andrew Archuleta. “It will also make public lands safer to visit and reduce methane leaks that can harm the ecosystem. We are pleased to be a part of this ongoing effort and look forward to providing more investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in Wyoming.”  

The targeted wells are in Fremont, Hot Springs, Natrona, and Sweetwater counties. BLM will soon announce an opportunity to plug these wells through the federal government’s procurement website, SAM.gov.  

The funds received by Wyoming are part of a multi-year, $4.7 billion investment by the Department of the Interior to plug and reclaim hundreds of orphaned wells and restore lands on public lands and in national parks, national forests, and national wildlife refuges throughout the country.  

BLM previously plugged orphaned wells and restored lands in Utah and California using Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds and are working to plug and reclaim an additional 11 wells in the Worland Field Office. These investments tackle the long-standing problem of orphaned wells on public lands by supplementing BLM’s annual appropriated funding to address this problem across the nation, eliminating dangerous conditions and pollution caused by past extraction activities.