{"id":21043,"date":"2024-12-16T14:27:10","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T19:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?p=21043"},"modified":"2026-03-27T10:42:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T14:42:47","slug":"wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Idle and abandoned offshore oil and gas infrastructure increase chances of oil leaks and pose environmental risks to marine ecosystems<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cNeglected oil wells off our coasts are a ticking time bomb that threaten our coastal communities and environment in Oregon and nationwide,\u201d <strong>dijo Wyden.<\/strong> \u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable that Big Oil has dodged responsibility to clean up drilling sites and pollution. This legislation will provide the data needed to hold Big Oil accountable and protect the public as well as our waterways and marine life.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u00a0\u201cOrphaned wells are an environmental catastrophe waiting to explode. They pose the possibility of massive damage to the ocean by leaking oil and gas and must be addressed quickly,\u201d <strong>dijo Merkley.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>El&nbsp;<em>Plug Offshore Wells Act would<\/em> direct the U.S. Department of the Interior to submit an annual public report to Congress on the status of decommissioning offshore oil and gas wells, platforms, and pipelines. It would also reduce financial burdens on taxpayers by increasing oversight of Big Oil companies and hold them accountable for the full terms of their offshore oil leases.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/products\/gao-24-106229\">estudiar<\/a> by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, more than 2,700 wells and 500 platforms in the Gulf of Mexico are overdue for decommissioning. The same study <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gao.gov\/products\/gao-24-106229\">encontr\u00f3<\/a> that the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and&nbsp; the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management , which are responsible for enforcing decommissioning deadlines, can\u2019t effectively enforce decommissioning obligations and financial assurance requirements. Among the recommended steps Congress can take, the study said, to address the current backlog of overdue decommissioning requirements, including instituting new reporting requirements from the Interior Department to Congress on the status of decommissioning.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>El <em>Plug Offshore Wells<\/em> <em>Acto <\/em>is supported by the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council, Oceana, Ocean Conservancy, Ocean Defense Initiative, and the Surfrider Foundation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the bill is co-sponsored in the Senate by Senators Peter Welch (D-Vt.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>El texto del proyecto de ley es <a href=\"https:\/\/www.welch.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Plug-Offshore-Wells-Act-Bill-Text.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">aqu\u00ed<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Idle and abandoned offshore oil and gas infrastructure increase chances of oil leaks and pose environmental risks to marine ecosystems \u201cNeglected oil wells off our coasts are a ticking time bomb that threaten our coastal communities and environment in Oregon and nationwide,\u201d Wyden said. \u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable that Big Oil has dodged responsibility to clean up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":18848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[36,45],"class_list":["post-21043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases","tag-natural-resources-and-rural-development","tag-tackling-climate-change"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms - Merkley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_MX\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms - Merkley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Idle and abandoned offshore oil and gas infrastructure increase chances of oil leaks and pose environmental risks to marine ecosystems \u201cNeglected oil wells off our coasts are a ticking time bomb that threaten our coastal communities and environment in Oregon and nationwide,\u201d Wyden said. \u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable that Big Oil has dodged responsibility to clean up [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Merkley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-12-16T19:27:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-27T14:42:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-2-.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lauren Denham\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lauren Denham\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lauren Denham\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/de92de2a17fa790d379e7caad8e6ae01\"},\"headline\":\"Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-16T19:27:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-27T14:42:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/\"},\"wordCount\":351,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-2-.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Natural Resources and Rural Development\",\"Tackling Climate Change\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Press Releases\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/\",\"name\":\"Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms - Merkley\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-2-.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-12-16T19:27:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-27T14:42:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/de92de2a17fa790d379e7caad8e6ae01\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-2-.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-2-.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Senator Jeff Merkley speaking into a microphone.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/\",\"name\":\"Merkley\",\"description\":\"Merkley\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/de92de2a17fa790d379e7caad8e6ae01\",\"name\":\"Lauren Denham\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25a4ee8e86f2359e4cde5aff12e7978900940e3e153b479f354e5fb6cb5c8013?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25a4ee8e86f2359e4cde5aff12e7978900940e3e153b479f354e5fb6cb5c8013?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25a4ee8e86f2359e4cde5aff12e7978900940e3e153b479f354e5fb6cb5c8013?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lauren Denham\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/author\/lauren-denham\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms - Merkley","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/","og_locale":"es_MX","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms - Merkley","og_description":"Idle and abandoned offshore oil and gas infrastructure increase chances of oil leaks and pose environmental risks to marine ecosystems \u201cNeglected oil wells off our coasts are a ticking time bomb that threaten our coastal communities and environment in Oregon and nationwide,\u201d Wyden said. \u201cIt\u2019s unacceptable that Big Oil has dodged responsibility to clean up [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/","og_site_name":"Merkley","article_published_time":"2024-12-16T19:27:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-27T14:42:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-2-.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Lauren Denham","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lauren Denham","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/"},"author":{"name":"Lauren Denham","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/de92de2a17fa790d379e7caad8e6ae01"},"headline":"Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms","datePublished":"2024-12-16T19:27:10+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-27T14:42:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/"},"wordCount":351,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-2-.png","keywords":["Natural Resources and Rural Development","Tackling Climate Change"],"articleSection":["Press Releases"],"inLanguage":"es-MX"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/","url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/","name":"Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms - Merkley","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-2-.png","datePublished":"2024-12-16T19:27:10+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-27T14:42:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/de92de2a17fa790d379e7caad8e6ae01"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"es-MX","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-2-.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/Updated-Release-Photo-2-.png","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Senator Jeff Merkley speaking into a microphone."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/wyden-merkley-introduce-bill-to-decommission-offshore-oil-gas-wells-pipelines-and-platforms\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wyden, Merkley Introduce\u00a0Bill to Decommission Offshore Oil &amp; Gas Wells, Pipelines and Platforms"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/","name":"merkley","description":"merkley","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"es-MX"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/#\/schema\/person\/de92de2a17fa790d379e7caad8e6ae01","name":"Lauren Denham","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"es-MX","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25a4ee8e86f2359e4cde5aff12e7978900940e3e153b479f354e5fb6cb5c8013?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25a4ee8e86f2359e4cde5aff12e7978900940e3e153b479f354e5fb6cb5c8013?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/25a4ee8e86f2359e4cde5aff12e7978900940e3e153b479f354e5fb6cb5c8013?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lauren Denham"},"url":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/author\/lauren-denham\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21044,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21043\/revisions\/21044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.merkley.senate.gov\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}