Jones Well Plugging Package

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Office of Oil & Gas, issued Agency Request for Quote (ARFQ) DEP23-58 for the Jones Well Plugging Package, a construction and reclamation project involving the plugging and remediation of two abandoned oil and natural gas wells located in Ritchie and Pleasants Counties, West Virginia. The solicitation encompasses approximately 48 line items including labor services (rig and crew operations totaling 240 hours, additional labor, and specialized workers), equipment rental (bulldozers, excavators, skid steers, vacuum trucks, power tongs, pumps, and specialized oil and gas tools), materials (tubing, casing, drill collars, cement, gravel, and absorbent products), disposal services (gel, liquid waste, and solid waste), environmental sampling and testing, site reclamation, and infrastructure items such as culverts and silt fence. The project requires a three-person minimum crew with rig equipment and must be completed within 180 days from the notice to proceed, with work performed Monday through Friday on a maximum ten-hour daily basis unless otherwise approved by the Department. A mandatory pre-bid meeting was held on March 15, 2023, at 11:00 AM Eastern Time on-site, with a technical questions deadline of March 17, 2023, at 4:00 PM Eastern Time, and bids closed on March 24, 2023, at 10:30 AM. Bidders must meet qualifications including a valid West Virginia contractor's license, a signed drug-free workplace affidavit, evidence of current workers' compensation and unemployment compensation coverage, proof of no federal or state debarment status, and no outstanding environmental enforcement actions or unresolved DEP vendor complaints. All bids must be submitted electronically through the wvOASIS Vendor Self Service portal at www.wvOASIS.gov and must include acknowledgment of all issued addenda (at least three were released).

The solicitation contains no specific set-asides for small businesses, disadvantaged enterprises, or minority-owned businesses, and no incumbent contractor or prior vendor information is identified in the available documentation. All apparent successful vendors must provide a five percent bid bond, a 100% performance bond, a 100% labor and material payment bond, and proof of Commercial General Liability and Automobile Liability Insurance with minimum limits of $2,000,000 per occurrence prior to contract award. For contracts exceeding $25,000, awarded contractors must provide a certified drug-free workplace report annually or upon project completion to the West Virginia Purchasing Division, including education and training documentation, certified laboratory information, employee counts, and detailed drug test results. The contract is structured as a fixed-price, fixed-period contract not subject to Davis-Bacon wage rates, with pricing firm for the contract term and payment made in arrears upon receipt of proper invoices; the contract is contingent upon legislative appropriation of funds and subject to cancellation with 30 days' written notice. Liquidated damages of $1,000 per working day apply for delays beyond the contract completion date, except for winter shutdowns or State-approved extensions. The specific total contract value or unit pricing amounts are not disclosed in the available solicitation documents, as vendors were required to submit their own pricing for each line item based on estimated quantities provided for budgeting purposes.