Mercer County looking at abandoned natural gas wells - Bluefield Daily Telegraph

Mercer County looking at abandoned natural gas wells | News | bdtonline.com

princeton — A West Virginia law firm has entered into a contract with the Mercer County Commission to see funding from companies owning abandoned natural gas wells across the state’s southern counties and use that money to clean up the sites.

Attorney H. Truman Chafin with the Chafin Law Firm, PLLC, in Williamson, spoke recently with the Mercer County Commission about old gas wells in the county.

“I’ll be brief. Mercer County and other counties in southern West Virginia, commissioners, have an abandoned gas well problem,” Chafin said during the Aug. 13 meeting. “There’s many gas wells that are all over the county and they’re unsightly and they’re not producing any more. They’re abandoned in other words.”

Chafin said a company has bought most of the old wells.

“And the reason they buy them is they’re not producing and so the wells that they got out west, they get a tax write off because they own all these here that aren’t producing and use them as a tax write off,” he said.

Chafin then told the commissioners that these old wells are not being used. Hikers visiting the state and ATV tourists riding the Hatfield-McCoy Trails can encounter these well sites.

“But they have abandoned them and they’re dangerous, number one, “ he said. “Number two, they’re unsightly and number three, they’re a health hazard.”

Chafin said officials seek to create what is called an abatement fund, which will cost about $50,000 per well, to get to get them all sealed up.

“And we would like to enter into a contract with you all to represent you to hold these companies responsible for cleaning them up and making sure its done right. There’s no risk to you at all,” Chafin said. “It’s a win-win situation, If we’re unsuccessful, there will be no cost at all to the Mercer County Commission.”

Chafin said that his firm now represents Mingo County on the abandoned wells issue and is speaking with other county commissions.

“And we’re all hoping you’ll be proactive and at the forefront of this and allow these old gas wells to be spruced up, cleaned up and made safe again so they’re not an environmental hazard,” Chafin said. “We’ll be working with some national law firms out of Texas that had taken the lead on it.”

Commissioner Greg Puckett asked Chafin how many abandoned natural gas wells are in Mercer County. Chafin said there were “25 and growing.”

Chafin was then asked by County Commission President Bill Archer if any of the abandoned wells were on active coal mining properties and he replied that there were not.

Puckett made a motion to accept the proposal and Commissioner Gene Buckner seconded it. The motion passed unanimously.

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