The U.S. Interior Department is intensifying efforts to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells and abandoned mines to protect people from toxins and waste. 

As part of those efforts, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Department Deb Haaland visited a remediated site in Pineville, Kentucky on Thursday and met with state leaders in Lexington later the same day. 

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Interior Department is intensifying efforts to clean up orphaned oil and gas wells and abandoned mines to protect people from toxins and waste 

  • As part of those efforts, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Department Deb Haaland visited a remediated site in Pineville, Kentucky on Thursday and met with state leaders in Lexington 

  • During her visit, she announced that $74 million from President Biden's bipartisan Infrastructure Law will be used this year to reclaim abandoned mine lands and create union jobs in Kentucky

  • “People spend years dealing with the environmental and health risks caused by these sites. But I believe that we have the resources To end this cycle,” Haaland said during the announcement

During her visit, she announced that $74 million from President Joe Biden's bipartisan infrastructure law will be used this year to reclaim abandoned mine lands and create union jobs in Kentucky.

It is the first award of its kind to be announced and similar funding will be distributed to 22 states and the Navajo Nation this year. 

“These funds, these incredible funds will put people in Kentucky to work by rebuilding and reclaiming their communities," Haaland said, adding: "These historic investments are all a part of the Biden administration’s 'all-of-government' approach to communities as they address the lingering impacts of extractive industries and transition to a clean energy future."

The bipartisan infrastructure law that president Joe Biden signed last November included $16 billion for these cleanup initiatives to protect communities from toxins and waste. 

“People spend years dealing with the environmental and health risks caused by these sites. But I believe that we have the resources To end this cycle,” Haaland said during the announcement. 

According to the Interior Department, millions of people live within just one mile of orphaned oil and gas wells, threatening and "jeopardizing public health and safety."

In a statement, Haaland said she knows "first-hand what it looks like to live near a toxic, abandoned mine," adding: "In communities like my Pueblo of Laguna, people deal with the serious risks to our environment and our health that these legacy pollution sites pose."

Of the $16 billion allocated towards cleanup efforts, $11.3 billion will be used over the next 15 years for coal mine land reclamation – like the funding announced Thursday – and $4.7 billion will be used to plug and remediate abandoned oil and gas wells, and reclaim those lands. 

Haaland's stop in Kentucky is a part of what the department calls “legacy pollution week.” It is designed to highlight the work being done and the steps being taken to improve these types of areas.