Across the United States sit more than 2.1 million “zombie wells” – abandoned oil and gas wells that leak methane and contaminate groundwater in local areas, where communities are left to face the consequences.
This hazard poses a long-term health risk to locals, and is a disaster for the climate, as methane is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere. Each well costs roughly USD $100,000 to safely plug and decommission, yet fossil fuel companies have routinely offloaded this responsibility, transferring aging wells to smaller firms, destined to collapse. When those companies go bankrupt, the clean-up bills ultimately fall to the local taxpayer rather than the fossil fuel company responsible.
In a landmark legal case in Colorado that ClientEarth is working on, the court recently ruled in motion for “class certification” of the case. Class certification transforms a case from a personal dispute to a high-risk, high stakes legal threat for defendants – its the sign that a case has legal strength, economic value, and potential to succeed – thus changing the scale of the case.
The oil companies now face a single, unified lawsuit representing all affected landowners, instead of smaller, isolated claims. Therefore, the court agrees that this case raises issues that affect many Colorado landowners in the same way: now, they can move forward together, giving them a stronger voice and clearer path to justice.
By recognising these claims can be tied together, the court has acknowledged a pathway for others to
bring similar cases against companies that abandon their wells and walk away from cleanup costs. It’s a decision that makes it possible to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for environmental responsibilities on a larger scale.