Saying their aim is to make Denver International Airport “one of the greenest airports in the world,” city leaders in the mile-high city unveiled plans to plug 64 oil and gas wells around the major aviation center.
The wells have been idle since 2018 and had been in operation before the airport was built in the 1990s. In 2017, they generated only $2.3 million for the city. Now they will be targeted for plugging and a bid request will go out to start the work in late 2023 or early 2024 reported the Denver Post.
Early estimates say the plugging could cost $9 million. Word of the project naturally brought a positive response from anti-oil and gas group leader, Ean Thomas Tafoya who is the state director of GreenLatinos.
“We need to do away with fracking because we know it’s contributing to the climate crisis in a huge way,” he said.
A spokeswoman for DIA, Stephanie Figueroa said the goal is to start the plugging in April and have the project completed within 18 months.
Source: Denver Post
