Closing the Gap: The Well-Done Foundation’s Mission to Seal Orphaned Wells
Introduction
The Well-Done Foundation (WDF) is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the environmental hazards posed by orphaned and abandoned oil and gas wells.
Founded in 2019 by former oil executive Curtis Shuck, the foundation aims to mitigate climate change by preventing methane emissions through the plugging of these wells.
The Challenge
Orphaned and abandoned wells pose serious environmental, regulatory, and public safety risks. Often left by defunct operators, these wells can leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas, contaminate groundwater, and present surface hazards to nearby communities.
With millions of wells scattered across North America—many undocumented or deteriorating—the scale and complexity of this issue demand advanced detection technologies, rigorous verification, and sustained funding to ensure safe decommissioning.
The Well Done Foundation addresses this challenge through a structured five-step process; Identification, Assessment, Qualification, Remediation and Site Restoration.
A critical step in this process is GHG emissions testing, which determines whether a well qualifies for remediation and supports detailed environmental impact reporting. Accurate methane quantification is essential not only to validate field operations, but also to satisfy regulatory, carbon market, and stakeholder requirements.
However, achieving this level of precision in the field requires sophisticated measurement technology capable of accounting for variable flow conditions and diverse leak profiles.