The “Well Done Foundation” seeks to reduce emissions from abandoned wells

Toole County, Montana – The production of oil and gas in the Treasure State is well-known.

A non-profit organization called the “Well Done Foundation” began the first of its “Field Experiences” north of the Hi-Line communities of Shelby and Cut Bank, where participants helped measure, monitor, and plug an abandoned well.

An oil well that has been abandoned or left to its own devices after having been utilized by oil and gas drilling corporations to extract fossil fuels from the soil. There are many reasons why businesses can opt to orphan wells, including low oil prices and bankruptcy.

The WDF thinks this is the first time the general public has had access to a practical field experience. Participants, also known as “WDF Climate Roughnecks,” collaborated with the WDF team to plug a legacy oil well that was dug in 1930 but has been abandoned for more than 30 years and emits enough methane annually to fill 400 automobiles.

From Colorado, Jordana Barrack arrived. She is the Mighty Arrow Family Foundation’s executive director. She expressed her reasons for choosing to take part and assist the “Well Done Foundation.”

“One of our main goals is to work on some of these climate emissions and how we can make changes in reducing emissions around the world. Methane is some of the low-hanging fruit that we can work on. I try to find what non-profits are working on capping oil and gas oil or working on methane reductions. The ‘Well Done Foundation’ is kind of the only one that is doing this type of work from what I’ve been able to find.”

According to the WDF, Montana is home to hundreds of open, orphaned oil wells that each annually generate as much carbon and methane as hundreds of cars. The WDF’s method of capping abandoned oil wells promptly and completely eliminates pollution.

Along with WDF, Chikashi Togashi, a citizen of Japan, took part.

“I’m a former city officer, and now I’m interested in oil wells,” Togashi said. “In my city, in Japan, we had the same problem. That’s why I needed to study here.”

The “Well Done Foundation” collaborates with farmers and landowners, local and state governments, businesses, and non-profit groups to identify abandoned wells, measure and record the CO2 emissions, plug the wells, and return the surrounding surface area to its pre-abandonment condition.