Wyoming doesn’t want the federal government’s $35 million offer to plug orphan oil and gas wells.

The Biden administration’s Interior Department this week offered the availability of $775 million to 21 states to clean up legacy pollution.

Orphan wells are abandoned wells for which no owner can be determined. That number is fractional on public lands. It’s a different story on private lands, where there are substantially more.

The government’s offer to help clean up orphan wells in Wyoming was the sixth largest dollar amount made available to the 21 energy-producing states.

Other cleanup offers larger than Wyoming’s include $52.8 million to California; up to $102.6 million for Oklahoma; $86.6 million to Ohio; up to $152.8 to Pennsylvania; and $119.5 million to Texas.

Oklahoma and Texas could receive less money based on ongoing negotiations for previous grant funds offered.

Tom Kropatsch, oil and gas supervisor for the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (WOGCC) in Casper, told Cowboy State Daily in an email that his agency isn’t interested in the offer.

“We do not intend to apply for this second phase of the formula grant,” said Kropatsch, who did not immediately offer an explanation why his organization is turning down the money.

The commission has tracked the orphan well program with electronic records since the early 1990s, when it saw a peak of 7,250 orphan wells on its list. Of those, the commission has plugged 6,250.

Manna From Heaven

The orphan well cleanup money was made available to states through the 3-year-old Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a catchall piece of federal legislation designed to help build everything from wind turbines and solar farms to cleaning up environmental messes and plugging leaky wells.

The orphan well program was designed in two phases.

Since August 2022, the federal government has awarded $565 million in initial grants to 25 states and another $444 million in a first phase of the cleanup program to 18 states.

Details of the second phase of the cleanup program were released this week, which begins the next phase to apply for an estimated $775 million in formula grant funds. The 21 states have until Dec. 13 to apply.

Kropatsch previously told Cowboy State Daily that the orphan well issue is well under control in Wyoming.

In April, Kropatsch said that the 538 orphan private and state wells that are not under contract for plugging will likely be put out for bid with plugging to begin in late 2024 and continue into 2025.

At that time, the state’s Oil and Gas Conservation Commission had 1,010 private and state wells on its orphan list, with 472 of those wells under contract to be plugged, all of which will likely be plugged in 2024.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management believes that orphan wells are big issue.

Some critics like the Petroleum Association of Wyoming disagree.

The Wyoming trade group worries that a new BLM rule could force oil and gas developers to leave Wyoming — or worse, America.

BLM issued the new rule April 11 that could make it difficult for some oil and gas companies to bid on energy leases on public lands.

The energy industry’s biggest beef with the rule is that the BLM may force developers to pay higher bonding amounts to drill on public land. The higher bond amount is meant to deter some developers from walking away from the drilling site and leaving a mess behind without any financial incentive to clean up.

Pat Maio can be reached at pat@cowboystatedaily.com.

The 2024 MLB season did not get off to a great start for San Francisco Giants’ ace Blake Snell. After being signed late in the offseason, he struggled mightily to begin the year.

Of course, he was also dealing with injury issues. He never truly got fully healthy until July 9th. Since that point in time, Snell has been one of the best starting pitchers in baseball.

In July, he made four starts. He didn’t get a single decision, but he pitched 24.0 innings, gave up just two earned runs, walked seven, and struck out 30.

So far in the month of August, it has been more of the same from Snell. He has made three starts, going 2-0 and giving up just three earned runs, seven walks, and 30 strikeouts. He has remained elite.

Looking ahead to the upcoming MLB offseason, Snell will have the opportunity to opt out of his deal and re-enter free agency if he chooses to do so.

MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post has made his prediction for what Snell will do. He sees the 31-year-old starter opting out and testing the waters of free agency.

“Blake Snell has been incredible over the last seven starts. I believe that he will opt out and not take that $30 million option for next year.”

That is a very disappointing prediction for the Giants. They would love for him to stick around another year.

All of that being said, San Francisco could very well get aggressive and try to bring him back on a longer deal. The two sides have to be liking how things are going right now.

Quite a few teams around the league will be looking for starting pitching. If Snell does opt out and the Giants do want to re-sign him, they will have a lot of competition.

With how Snell has been pitching of late, there is a good chance that he will be one of the most popular names on the market.

Only time will tell what the outcome of the situation between Snell and San Francisco ends up being. It does seem likely that he will opt out of his current deal, but that doesn’t mean the relationship is over.

Hopefully, the Giants will be able to bring him back and he can keep pitching at the level that he has been showing over his last seven starts.

A former professional MMA fighter and Aurora community activist was charged with first-degree murder this week after police say he fatally shot a 28-year-old man during a child’s birthday party at a Commerce City park in retaliation for his son’s death.

Lumumba Sayers, 46, is charged with first-degree murder and two counts of felony menacing in the Saturday shooting death of Malcolm Watson near Paradice Island Pool at Pioneer Park.

He appeared in Adams County District Court on Thursday, where a judge increased his bail from $1 million to $5 million.

According to an arrest affidavit and witness statements made in court Thursday, Watson was carrying party supplies for his son’s birthday at the pool at 5951 Monaco St. when Sayers walked up to him and shot him multiple times, including once in the head.

After shooting Watson, Sayers went to talk with a man and a woman in a black Cadillac Escalade parked nearby before returning to Watson’s body, taking his keys and trying to place a handgun under his body, according to the affidavit.

Commerce City police officers arrived on scene to find Sayers crouching over Watson before he started to walk toward the Escalade, according to the affidavit.

Officers arrested him after witnesses began yelling that he was the shooter. Watson was pronounced dead at the scene.

Witnesses told detectives they believed the shooting was retaliation or revenge for the death of Sayers’ son, 23-year-old Lumumba Sayers Jr., who was killed almost a year ago in a shooting involving one of Watson’s friends, according to the affidavit.

Lumumba Sayers Jr., was one of two people killed in a shooting near 18th and Welton streets in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood on Aug. 19, 2023.

Denver police arrested 24-year-old Tyrell Braxton on suspicion of first-degree murder in the shooting, but no public court records are available in the case.

In response to an inquiry about Braxton’s case, the Denver District Attorney’s Office stated “no such records exist,” which is the only response prosecutors can provide under Colorado law when a case has been sealed.

Braxton is on trial in federal court in Denver this week for a weapons charge related to the August 2023 shooting, according to court records.

He was indicted by a grand jury in January on one count of possession of ammunition by a prohibited person, court records show.

The trial is scheduled to wrap up this week, court officials said Thursday.

In the wake of his son’s death, Sayers told Denver7 reporters that Sayers Jr. was dedicated to preventing gun violence in the community and was frequently at his father’s Aurora gym, the Heavy Hands Heavy Hearts Center.

The center, which described the elder Sayers as a founder in social media posts, is “a safe place where youth and adults are provided with basic needs, educational and career support, health resources, recreational and outreach services to assist with creating jobs and a building a sustainable life,” according to a description on its Facebook page.

Defense attorneys argued Sayers was an “exceptional” man and defended his character and position in the community during Thursday’s hearing, while prosecutors argued he was a danger to the community and Watson’s family as well as a flight risk.

Adams County District Court Judge Jeffrey Ruff ordered a $5 million cash-only bail, calling it the “only bond acceptable” in the case.

Sayers’ next court date was not available Thursday.

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Originally Published: August 15, 2024 at 7:49 p.m.