The arizona department of environmental quality adeq will use 25M in IIJA section 40601 c 3 initial grantsfunds to plug or reclaim approximately 246 documented orphan wells on state and private land…

The arizona department of environmental quality adeq will use 25M in IIJA section 40601 c 3 initial grantsfunds to plug or reclaim approximately 246 documented orphan wells on state and private land reclaim someadjacent land and decommission or remove some associated pipelines, facilities, and infrastructure over a threeyearperiod during the initial assessment period, adeq will conduct a well inventory, preliminary site assessment, and sitecharacterization to establish current well and site conditions, assess community impact through the EPA ejscreenand J40 screening tools, and collect baseline data this data will be used to establish a prioritization processand ranking system for orphaned wells and associated sites using a quantitative risk assessment tool qrat andis estimated to be completed in about a year well plugging will commence based on the site, well condition, site condition, site location and other variablesthat will be determined in the field minimum plugging standards will be followed as established in the arizonaadministrative code a a c and is estimated to be completed in approximately two years site remediation to be conducted including soil boring and testing to assess the extent of contamination siterestoration and remediation activities include soil removal and disposal, and removal of any associatedinfrastructure and debris abandoned wells will be marked, and each drill site will be restored as nearly aspossible to its natural state groundwater monitoring will be used when deemed necessary based on findings of pre plugging sitecharacterization post well plugging gas measurements will be compared to baseline samples to confirmeffectiveness of the plugging activities to reduce or eliminate emissions work conducted in the final siteremediation phase is estimated to take approximately two years while the work is scheduled for completion over a three year period, much can be done concurrently virtualpublic outreach and community engagement will be conducted throughout the project s duration to maximizecommunity participation and provide for more focused outcomes this outreach strategy will better targetarizona s hard to reach communities and bring in diverse perspectives as work is being conducted in workingwith associated data analytical tools, adeq will be well positioned to determine project priorities and outcomes, and cast a lens on human health, disadvantaged communities, and climate