GLO's Oil Spill Prevention & Response Teams continue weekly boat patrols, inspect plugging operations to ensure Trinity Bay remains free of spills
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham announced new developments in the Texas General Land Office's (GLO) partnership with the Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) to plug orphan wells in North Trinity Bay.
"As a Texan who lived on our coast for more than a decade, ensuring our coastal waters are clean is a responsibility I take very seriously. Abandoned wells can become a hazard for coastal communities and wildlife, and I am thankful our agency was able to provide key resources for the significant project of safely plugging these wells in Trinity Bay," said Commissioner Buckingham.“I am thrilled with the progress that the Texas Railroad Commission, GLO, and the project contractors have made on this major undertaking of ridding Trinity Bay of these environmental hazards.
"The GLO is committed to assisting with the resources to plug these targeted wells to safeguard the people and marine life that call the Texas coast home, and I look forward to continuing this crucial work to deliver results for the people of Texas.” Buckingham said.
Under Commissioner Buckingham’s leadership in 2023, the GLO entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with RRC to provide $10 million in funding for plugging the abandoned wells in Trinity Bay. Unplugged wells can be environmental hazards, and the forty-seven wells in Trinity Bay pose the most risk to wildlife in the area.
On Thursday, February 13, 2025, the GLO's Oil Spill Prevention and Response team conducted a patrol to visit the Trinity Bay well-plugging project. The GLO monitors the wells weekly as safety permits to ensure no oil escapes into coastal waters.
As of Monday, February 17, 2025, RRC contractors reported the following:
- Eight wells have been successfully plugged and a ninth is underway.
- Contractors have also flushed and removed flowlines from the eight wells.
- Currently, they have removed all cribbing from around three wells and a fourth is underway.
