Groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin

Nearly 16 million operational water wells (Wellowner.
org, 2005), more than 520,000 operational oil wells
and more than 393,000 gas wells are estimated to be
spread across the United States (Interstate Oil and Gas
Compact Commission, 2005). There are an estimated
23,000 active oil wells in Pennsylvania (Polczer, 2008).
In addition to these wells approximately 800,000
boreholes are drilled each year and more than 90,000
new drinking wells are constructed (Wellowner.org,
2005). Exact numbers of abandoned wells (Figure 13)
across the U.S. are unknown or unavailable. However,
the number is estimated to be in the tens of millions,
and many of these are located within the Great Lakes
states. Michigan DEQ estimates that Michigan may
have as many as two million abandoned wells (Monroe
Conservation District, 2004). Minnesota has between
700,000 to 1.2 million abandoned wells of which more
than 350,000 are currently believed to have the potential
to contaminate groundwater (Perham Wellhead
Protection Program, 2004). In addition to 400,000 to
500,000 active water wells in Illinois, there are also
an estimated 55,000 to 155,000 abandoned wells in
the state (Illinois Department of Public Health, 2006;
Illinois Government News Network, 1999; King, 1994).
WELL CLOSURE AND DECOMMISSIONING
102
In Michigan the following conditions require that an
abandoned well be plugged: The well is not operational,
the well has been disconnected and taken out of service
when connection to a municipal water system was
made and inoperable and abandoned wells that are not
properly sealed that pose safety and environmental
hazards (Michigan DEQ, 2005). In Ontario it is the
sole legal responsibility of the well owner to plug abandoned
wells (Office of Legislative Counsel, 2003). In the
U.S. it is also the legal responsibility of the well owner
to properly plug abandoned wells; however, a number
of states have implemented cost-share programs in
order to assist owners (Monroe Conservation District,
2004). Today an unsuccessful water well, known as
a “dry hole,” is normally plugged by the well drilling
contractor but this was not always the case (Michigan
DEQ, 2005).
The enforcement of proper well decommissioning is
extremely important. Under state and provincial laws,
abandoned wells are required to be properly closed
within a designated time frame. For example, in Illinois
water, monitoring and geotechnical boring wells must
be properly sealed within 30 days. However, this law
is resource intensive, difficult to enforce and significant
numbers of wells are therefore never properly
closed. The status of water wells in Pennsylvania is
of considerable concern since there no guidelines on
the location, construction or maintenance of private
Figure 13.
Old abandoned well pump
Photo By: D.W. Alley, 2007
wells. Currently, more than one million private water
wells exist in Pennsylvania, with an additional 20,000
new wells constructed per year (Pennsylvania State
University, 2007).
In Ontario, standards for water well construction,
disinfection and abandonment are specified under
Regulation 903, which is enforced by Ontario MOE.
This regulation states that it is the responsibility of
the well owner to make sure that abandoned wells
are properly plugged and sealed (Green Communities
Canada, 2006). However, MOE does not consistently
have staff dedicated to the investigation of private
drinking water well construction, repair or abandonment
(ECO, 2007). Currently there are only nine staff
members in the MOE Water Well Business Unit. Lack
of staff results in the unit being unable to carry out
surprise visits to well drilling or abandonment operations
of private well drillers (ECO, 2007).