The local oil industry helped grow Orcutt and the Santa Maria Valley into what it is today, but for years, a trio of oil wells off Union Valley Parkway has sat abandoned and unused, sending pollutants into the environment.
However, new efforts are in place to plug them up.
“We are all about plugging wells and making a difference, one well at a time,” said Curtis Shuck, chairman and founder of the Well Done Foundation.
Shuck says the nonprofit is dedicated to plugging the 3.5 million orphaned oil and gas wells throughout the country.
He says to date, the Well Done Foundation has plugged more than 40 wells around the U.S., saving upward of 950,000 metric tons of greenhouse gasses from entering the atmosphere.
“What we have got here is a well-head," he said. "This wellhead has several different features on it. We are always looking for areas of leaks, and there are lots of them."
On Monday, Shuck brought KSBY out to Well Done’s current project site: three abandoned oil wells off Union Valley Parkway, that he will spend the week examining for methane emissions and preparing them to be plugged.
“These wells are gassing off,” explained Bob Nelson, Santa Barbara County District 4 Supervisor. “There is methane going out into the environment when they are improperly abandoned. Hopefully, that issue will be resolved and it will mean cleaner air for the community.”
Supervisor Nelson says along with their environmental impacts, in the years since the trio of oil wells have sat idle, they have become an eyesore covered in graffiti, litter and rusted metal.
He says the Well Done Foundation’s Orcutt project is Santa Barbara County’s first well-plugging initiative.
“For years, my office has been working to find a solution to these idle or abandoned wells. Luckily, because of the leadership of the Well Done Foundation stepping up to the plate, it looks like a fix is in the future,” Nelson added.
Shuck says he will also be monitoring idle oil wells off Cat Canyon Road and will identify which are of the highest priority to be plugged.
He adds that the three abandoned wells in Orcutt, are on the list.
“It is just one more way for pollution to make its way to the surface and into the atmosphere. Every chance we get, we are out there working on wells, plugging wells. This is what I do full-time,” he stated.
Shuck says the Well Done Foundation has identified 50 total orphaned oil wells across Santa Barbara County, adding that his team is aiming to have the ones in Orcutt plugged up by the end of the year.
