June 30, 2009 (Railroad Commission of Texas). Railroad Commissioners announced this month that plugging activities for the state’s abandoned oil and gas wells reached a milestone with the plugging of the 30,000th abandoned well. Since 1984, the Commission has been plugging wells for which there is no responsible operator.

In 1991, the state Legislature created the Oil Field Cleanup Fund, which increased the financial ability of the state’s oil and gas regulator— the Railroad Commission—to plug more abandoned oil and gas wells and to also clean up abandoned oil and gas well sites. Texas oil and gas operators’ permitting and production fees go into the Oilfield Cleanup Fund, which finances the plugging and cleanup of abandoned wells and sites. Read the full press release here or download it below.