At the request of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC), EPA conducted a site assessment of a leaking oil well in the Town of Ward, Allegany County, New York. The oil well had begun actively leaking on a weekend putting crude oil into a culvert leading to Dry Brook, a named tributary of the Genesee River, where there was a potential for the crude oil to be released into the Genesee River, a navigable waterway of the United States.
This crude oil production well was operated in the early 1900s, and has subsequently been abandoned. This type of well is known as an orphan well.
A deed and title search for the identification of a viable responsible party indicated that the mineral rights ownership was held by a single company which no longer exists. There was no state oil and gas database record for this well.
EPA initiated a project known as the Wadsworth Hill Oil Well Site which will involve the permanent plugging of the abandoned and orphaned crude oil production well.
This project is being conducted under the authority of the Clean Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90). This project is being funded with federal money from the OPA90 Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.
FPN E18205
