Glacier County,
United States of America
For decades, local farmer Grant Ostby was forced to farm around the Palmer Bow Island orphan wells on his property. Left behind and forgotten, these wells posed a significant health and safety risk, in addition to the environmental impacts they were creating.
Always mindful of the dangers, extra precautions were required so as not to hit the wells while farming. Grant tried to encourage the State of Montana Board of Oil & Gas Conservation to get the wells plugged, but the State had no available funds.
When the Well Done Foundation, a Montana based 501(c)(3) non-profit reached out to Grant Ostby in 2021 and presented a plan to adopt the wells, and the farmer was all in.
Working together with the Blackfeet Tribe, the State of Montana Board of Oil & Gas Conservation and the farmer Grant Ostby, the Well Done Foundation formally adopted the Palmer Bow Island orphan wells in Glacier County in April of 2022.
The Well Done Foundation initiated a program of measuring the methane gas to quantify the emissions and determine the impact to the environment. Fundraising for the Glacier County Palmer Bow Island project began, and in the summer of 2023, they finally got approval to seal the orphan wells.
Organizing and scheduling the work began, which included hiring local Blackfeet Tribal Members to be a part of the Plugging Crew. The Palmer Bow Island 1-4 was plugged October 13, 2023, the methane emissions were eliminated, and the impacted surface areas have been fully restored. The Well Done Foundation conducts annual ex-post methane monitoring to ensure the integrity of the plug and confirm methane elimination.