ClientEarth 161d ago

Oil companies are taking advantage of glaring loopholes in Illinois. A new report from ClientEarth and the Environmental Advocacy Center of the Bluhm Legal Clinic at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law has exposed a massive data gap in the state’s orphan well records. Most troublingly, because the state doesn’t track individual well production, functionally dead wells that produce little or no oil may still be classified as “active,” allowing oil companies to shirk their legal responsibility to clean them up. But these wells don’t just go away. Eventually, the state will be stuck with the cleanup bill and taxpayers could end up covering $1 billion in closure costs. Our report lays out the problem with Illinois’ weak, easily exploited rules, and provides recommendations for Illinois and other states facing similar situations to close these loopholes and ensure oil companies shoulder the costs instead of taxpayers.