Overwhelmingly, oil producing polities are malfeasant.
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As its natural gas boom ends, Wyoming seeks to plug its wells. "The companies that once operated the wells have all but vanished into the prairie, many seeking bankruptcy protection and unable to pay the cost of reclaiming the land they leased. Recent estimates have put the number of abandoned drilling operations in Wyoming at more than 1,200, and state officials said several thousand more might soon be orphaned by their operators. Wyoming officials are now trying to address the problem amid concerns from landowners that the wells could contaminate groundwater and are a blight on the land. This month, Gov. Matt Mead proposed allocating $3 million to pay for plugging the wells and reclaiming the land around them." Dan Frosch in The New York Times.