13 Investigates leaking zombie wells haunting Trinity Bay

TRINITY BAY, Texas (KTRK) -- During a hot July morning, smoke billowed from a wooden structure surrounding an orphaned oil rig in the middle of Trinity Bay.

Dozens of wells that once helped power Texas' oil and gas industry and economy are now decades old and rusting away in Trinity Bay.

"My goodness. I told y'all, 'You never know what we'll find out here,'" Tom Taylor, a recreational boater who grew up on the bay, said. "Sometimes I wish that wasn't true."

13 Investigates joined Taylor on his boat this summer as we observed an oil and gas graveyard of forgotten wells that the state is now responsible for plugging.

Some of the oil wells leaking during our visit are referred to as "zombie wells."

About 8,500 wells across Texas are considered orphaned wells, meaning they've been inactive for over a year and have no owner. In some cases, the owners declared bankruptcy, leaving the state responsible for plugging the wells, which can deteriorate and leak combustible gasses into the atmosphere if left unchecked.

13 Investigates partnered with ABC News, which tested 10 abandoned wells in Trinity Bay. Our joint investigation found seven wells leaked combustible gas during our visit.

ABC News' team of investigative reporters tested 76 wells across five states and found 40 were leaking oil or combustible gas when we tested them.

"This is just complete failure here. This has got to be probably 50 years old, built strong, but after so many years, it just is dilapidated, and it's polluting the water," Taylor said.

Despite millions in state and federal funding allocated to plug orphan wells, our investigation found there is not enough funding to plug all of them.

"We do not have the money to plug 8,500 wells today from a state level or a federal level," Texas Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright told 13 Investigates. "Our average has been, (based) on what we've been allotted, over 1,000 a year (plugged) with state funding, and in the initial $25 million federal grant money that had no strings attached to it, we were able to plug an additional 730 wells."

When applying for federal grant funding in 2021, Texas said it would cost $481 million to plug its 7,396 idle and orphaned wells.

Now, there are at least 8,500 wells that need plugging, and in some years, the state says it adds more orphaned wells to the list than it can plug, making it difficult to catch up.

During fiscal year 2024, the Texas Railroad Commission, which, despite its name, is the government agency regulating oil and gas statewide, said it plugged 1,256 wells, including 1,012 plugged with state funds.

"That's something that's going to continue to improve," Wright said. "We plug a lot of wells every year, and we inherit more than we plug sometimes. It seems like since we've had access to the federal money, that has not been exactly the case. We've kind of gotten ahead of it."

Still, Wright said the federal funding comes with some strings attached.

For example, he said the money that could be used to plug wells must be used for measuring and monitoring methane emissions and other regulations that not only waste money but also slow down the process.

"As tax dollars become available to plug these wells, we need to make sure that we make the best use of that tax money that we can and right now," Wright said. "If the concern is on methane emission, we should be plugging these wells, not going out and measuring it, which provides really zero data for anything."

Wright said the cost to plug a well on land is between $30,000 and $35,000.

"We estimate that if they're bay-related, they're about half a million, and if they're offshore - what we consider offshore - they're $1 million," Wright said.

After the Railroad Commission plugs wells, it's up to the Texas General Land Office to remove the infrastructure from the bay.

GLO Commissioner Dawn Buckingham said her agency has identified more than 180 orphaned wells up and down the Texas coast, but the biggest concentration is in Trinity Bay, with several in Matagorda Bay as well.

"It's a complicated process. Nobody really understands when we see an orphaned well, which just means there's not an owner to take care of it so the state has to pick that up. In state waters, the Railroad Commission has to plug the well first, and then once the railroad commission plugs it, then the General Land Office can remove the well," she said.

Last year, the GLO allocated $10 million from its budget to the Railroad Commission to plug wells in Trinity Bay.

"The General Land Office is really the guardian of the Texas coast in so many ways, and nobody even realizes that we clean up oil spills, we do disaster recovery, we do habitat restoration, beach nourishment," Buckingham said. "So when we see something that we think is harming the coast, we want to jump in and fix it."

The Railroad Commission has also spent $25 million in federal funding to plug wells, but because that federal grant program requires the state to comply with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the National Historic Preservation Act, it has slowed them down.

"All of those are issues that I feel like are taking time and precious dollars," Wright said. "These wells originally were drilled, so a lot of those areas have been disturbed, and if they're wells that are leaking and there are some endangered species or plant life, them leaking is not going to help that situation either. I think the focus needs to remain on our ability to get out and plug these wells."

Buckingham said she hopes one day, the bay will be free of abandoned wells and infrastructure.

"We have a beautiful bay, wonderful fishing, so many great things to come and experience, and we want to make it even more beautiful," she said. "Honestly, I defend oil and gas every day. We are the largest mineral owner in the state and responsible for the majority of oil and gas, but part of defending oil and gas is taking care of problems like this."

In the meantime, as we came upon a jagged piece of steel pipe peeking out of the water during our visit in July, Taylor said boating would be dangerous for anyone who doesn't know what they're doing because of all the abandoned infrastructure.

"The problem is we could hit a pipe that's under the water," Taylor said. "We put something in there that actually had a lifespan. Well, life's over. You got to get it out."

For updates on this story, follow Kevin Ozebek on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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