‘Pro-taxpayer’ law requires operators to clean up abandoned Illinois oil wells

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – A state lawmaker says recently-signed legislation will ensure that Illinois taxpayers don’t foot the bill for cleaning up abandoned oil wells.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 2463 earlier this month. The bill sponsor, state Sen. Erica Harriss, R-Glen Carbon, said the measure addresses a costly problem.

“So the law would ensure that oil well operators, not taxpayers, are financially responsible for closing and remediating sites once the drilling operations have ceased,” Harriss explained.

According to the Environmental Defense Fund, more than 150,000 oil, gas, and injection wells have been drilled in Illinois since 1853. EDF mapped locations for the state’s 4,050 “orphan” oil wells, most of which are in Southern Illinois.

The EDF website states that oil and gas wells, after they are done producing, must be properly closed to prevent air and water pollution, protect the health of the surrounding communities and restore the property values of the landowner.

When the abandoned wells have no solvent owner of record, cleanup liability falls on the state or on funding from federal grants. The average cost to close one well is estimated to be around $20,000, with remediation costing tens of thousands more.

SB 2463 provides for a third-party-backed bond instead of cash deposits for future oil rigs, sparing the Illinois Department of Natural Resources from cleanup costs.

“This bill is about accountability, that taxpayers shouldn’t be footing that bills when operators walk away from obligations,” Harris told The Center Square.

Harriss said she worked with the Illinois DNR and the oil and gas industry on the legislation.

“They were most certainly included in the conversation and this is not anti-oil and gas at all. This is pro-taxpayer,” Harriss said.

Senate Bill 2463 passed both chambers of the General Assembly with no opposition last spring.

The new law takes effect Jan. 1, 2026.