Well Done Foundation Marks Six Years Since First Earth Day Well Plugging, Highlights Record Year of National Impact

Nonprofit reports major milestones in 2025-26, including expanded wildlife refuge restoration, emergency response efforts, and continued methane reduction across 15 states

BOZEMAN, MT / ACCESS Newswire / April 21, 2026 / Six years after plugging its first orphan oil and gas well on Earth Day 2020, the Well Done Foundation is marking the anniversary with a look at its most impactful year to date, highlighting expanded field operations, new partnerships, and measurable environmental results across the United States.

The organization, founded in 2019, was created to address a largely overlooked problem: orphan wells left unplugged and emitting methane, often for decades.

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On April 22, 2020, the foundation plugged its first well-Big West Anderson #3 in Toole County, Montana- making history by demonstrating that a scalable philanthropic funding approach could accelerate immediate, practical action that delivers lasting environmental and community benefits when it comes to tackling orphan oil and gas wells. Drilled in 1924 and inactive for decades, the well had been identified in 2019 as an orphan site emitting measurable levels of methane and hydrogen sulfide gases, becoming an early test case for WDF's field measurement and remediation approach.

"From day one, the mission has been simple: find these wells and plug them," said Curtis Shuck, chairman and founder of the Well Done Foundation. "Six years later, we're still focused on getting the work done, and doing it right."

Seven Years of Progress

Since its founding in 2019, the Well Done Foundation has:

• Plugged more than 117 orphan wells nationwide
  
• Eliminated over 5 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent emissions
  
• Expanded operations to 15 states, including projects in urban areas, wetlands, and remote landscapes
  

The work has grown from a single pilot project into a national effort addressing legacy oil and gas infrastructure across diverse environments.

Perhaps most importantly, the Well Done Foundation has helped elevate orphan wells from obscurity into the national conversation. Once largely ignored, these legacy sites are now increasingly recognized for their environmental and community impacts. WDF's work-on the ground and in public view-has contributed to that shift. "We started before orphan wells were cool," Shuck said. "Back when they were everybody's dirty little secret."

A Transformational Year: 2025-2026

The past 12 months represent a significant expansion of the foundation's impact, driven by new partnerships, increased field activity, and advances in measurement and monitoring.

Wildlife Refuge Restoration Scales Up

In 2025, the Well Done Foundation entered into a landmark agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to identify and plug more than 100 orphan wells across national wildlife refuges.

At Deep Fork National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, the foundation reached a major milestone in March 2026, plugging 30 wells within one year-one of the largest orphan well restoration efforts on protected land in the United States.The work is improving habitat conditions, reducing methane emissions, and addressing long-standing environmental risks in sensitive ecosystems.

Responding Where It Matters Most

In addition to planned restoration work, the foundation demonstrated its ability to respond quickly to urgent situations.In September 2025, the Well Done Foundation mobilized in response to an emergency involving an orphan well near Raytown South High School in the Kansas City metro area. The rapid response helped mitigate potential risks to students, staff, and the surrounding community.

The incident underscored the real-world hazards posed by legacy wells-and the importance of having experienced teams ready to act when needed.

Expanding Geographic Reach and Community Impact

Over the past year, the foundation expanded into new regions, including its first project in Oregon at Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge, as part of its cooperative partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The organization also continued work across Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Montana, and other states.

The Well Done Foundation's Northern Appalachia team made strong progress in 2025, plugging a total of eight orphan wells across Pennsylvania, including community-driven projects such as a student-led initiative that funded the plugging of an orphan well in a residential neighborhood.

In addition to well plugging, the team also decommissioned and removed three aboveground tanks and associated infrastructure at two sites, further restoring the land and eliminating potential environmental hazards.

Adding a more personal note to the organization's growing field presence, the foundation also welcomed a new team member in late 2025 - "Plugger," a rescue dog adopted in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, who has since become a familiar and uplifting presence at project sites and community events.

Advancing Science and Transparency

In March 2026, Well Done Foundation field data contributed to a peer-reviewed scientific study examining methane emissions from orphan wells, helping improve understanding of how emissions vary over time and environmental conditions.

The organization also expanded commercial deployment of its Well Intel™ remote monitoring platform, providing real-time data and project transparency across active sites.

Operational Growth and Innovation

Additional milestones over the past year include:

• Opening a new field office in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, supporting expanded operations in the region
  
• Establishing a marine division to address underwater and nearshore orphan wells
  
• Continued development of field measurement programs to better quantify methane emissions
  

A Practical Approach to a National Challenge

Orphan wells remain a widespread issue across the United States that continues to grow as more marginal wells fall into the orphan category, outpacing plugging efforts in just about every state, with many sites falling outside the scope of public funding due to complexity, location, or cost.

The Well Done Foundation's model focuses on identifying and addressing these overlooked wells through direct fieldwork, partnerships, and private funding.

"This is about getting results where they're needed most," Shuck said. "There are still a lot of wells out there, and a lot of work to do - but we've shown that progress is possible, one well at a time."

Looking Ahead

As the organization enters its seventh year, the focus remains on expanding impact, strengthening partnerships, and continuing to address orphan wells that might otherwise remain untreated.

"Earth Day is a good moment to look back and take stock in the successes that so many wonderful individuals and companies have supported," Shuck said. "But for us, it's also about what comes next-continuing to solve a problem that's been left behind far too long."

About the Well Done Foundation

A nonprofit formed in 2019, the Well Done Foundation's mission is to fight climate change by plugging the estimated 2.15 million orphaned oil and gas wells in the United States. The WDF works with farmers and landowners, local and state government, corporations, and other nonprofits to locate the orphaned wells, measure and document methane and CO2 emissions, plug the wells, and restore the surface areas to their original state. For more information visit welldonefoundation.org.

SOURCE: Well Done Foundation