The Scourge of Orphaned and Abandoned Wells: Leveraging Public-Private-Citizen Collaboration to Solve a Big Problem

Abstract

Orphaned and abandoned wells are emblematic of the challenges of abandoned infrastructure. With over 2.5 million idle wells in the United States, this is a large problem that requires engagement across the public, private, non-profit, and civic sectors. This article conducts a focused case study on orphaned and abandoned well reclamation in Pennsylvania. Elite interviews, government document review, and scholarly literature reveal the barriers to effective collaboration across the sectors, but also substantial potential. Using the public-private-citizen partnership (PC2) and collaborative governance regime (CGR) frameworks, the article proposes a PC2 CGR that could leverage the influx of federal well plugging funds for greater effectiveness in solving this big problem. The case also holds lessons for other states and other sources of abandoned infrastructure.

Dams are old and abandoned, are people concerned? Risk perceptions from Michigan, USA

“…Risk reduction could include raising awareness of the issue in Michigan (and across other states where numerous aging dams also exist). This way they can play their role in civil society to pressure legislatures to invest in either xing or removing these aging dams-civil society groups have had some success in capping abandoned oil and gas wells, which are somewhat similar to idled dams (Mallinson et al 2023). Research on other dangerous infrastructure (such as nuclear plants) suggests that people close to these plants tend to downplay the dangers, and that the dangers disproportionately affect the less powerful in society.…”

Collaborative Governance in Police: A Review of Research, Managerial Implication and Agenda for Future Research

“…However, it has been shown that the level of trust is not always the same throughout the collaboration process (J. Li, 2023;Mallinson et al, 2023).…”