WHEELING — With more than 21,000 abandoned and orphaned oil and gas wells throughout West Virginia, state officials — concerned both with community safety and environmental protection — sought ways to make it quicker and easier to seal them. A new law ceremoniously signed by Gov. Patrick Morrisey on Thursday morning, will update oil and gas laws in the Mountain State to expedite the process of plugging those wells.

Morrisey gathered Thursday with local public officials at Wheeling’s Heritage Port to sign House Bill 3336, which will officially go into effect July 10. The new law allows operators to pierce the casing of abandoned and orphaned wells and fill them with cement without having to remove the well’s central casing.

That’s a change from previous State Code, which required operators to remove most of the well’s infrastructure before plugging, even if the casing was damaged or unsafe to remove.

“As the people of Wheeling and the surrounding areas know very well, abandoned and orphaned wells can pose a significant threat and safety risk and can potentially impact surface and groundwater drinking sources,” Morrisey said to the crowd Thursday. “So plugging these wells safely and effectively is critical to protecting these resources.”

Morrisey mentioned a well near Warwood Marina that, when its pressure was released, it forced the marina to close part of its parking lot and suspend operations until the state Department of Environmental Protection could come in and shut the well. WVDEP Secretary Harold Ward said sealing that well cost $185,000 and took months of collaborative and technical work to complete.

Then, two Tyler County wells cost $195,000 to seal.

“We were able to get those done,” Ward said, “but that’s $400,000 for just three wellheads. So that lets you know the cost of what we’re dealing with here.”

West Virginia Del. Mark Zatezalo, R-Hancock, was the lead sponsor for the bill in the House. A hydrogeologist, he was approached to sponsor the bill and said that, once he gave it a close look, it was something he could get behind completely.

“You go 200 feet below (the Ohio) River and drill down to that level, you’ll be in saltwater,” Zatezalo said. “And that saltwater is there for another 5,800 feet until you hit the Marcellus Shale. You have to protect what’s above that.”

Zatezalo said the bill not only allows for quicker and easier sealing of abandoned wells, but it also helps with modern wells.

“It gives accounting for the casings that are put in,” he said, “the double casings that are put in through freshwater. And that really caught my eye, because going forward, that’s going to become important when we start to eliminate some of the wells that are out of production.”

West Virginia is blessed with a bevy of natural resources, Morrisey said. This new law is something he believes will better protect those resources and allow for more efficient ways to seal wells that are no longer of use.

“It’s going to allow all of us to safely and efficiently cap more wells than ever before and help us be more aggressive in protecting the environment,” he said. “Here, today, we can say we’re cutting red tape and we’re moving the state forward.

“We have more well plugging going on, a safer process, it’s less expensive and with less red tape,” Morrisey added. “That’s a pretty darn good combination.”