Just In Time For Halloween, Zombie Wells In Texas

Makes for a funny headline but, sadly, this has nothing to do with the walking dead. These things are real though and a bigger threat to Texas than Hollywood zombies.

Zombies, from what Hollywood has taught me, are not too big of a deal. They're slow, stupid and a simple head shot ... or axe, arrow, pole, etc through the head ... solves the problem.

It seems Texas has a genuine zombie problem these days and the potential impact on the environment is truly scary.

Thousands of abandoned oil and gas wells make up a "well graveyard" in Trinity Bay near Galveston Bay. The abandoned wells aren't just an eyesore, they're leaking like crazy.

About 8,500 wells across Texas are considered orphaned wells, meaning they've been inactive for over a year and have no owner. In some cases, the owners declared bankruptcy, leaving the state responsible for plugging the wells, which can deteriorate and leak combustible gasses into the atmosphere if left unchecked. - abc13

They're not just in Trinity Bay either, they're all over the lone star state and, across the USA, the number of abandoned wells jumps up to 4 million.

Some are just a couple of hundred miles from El Paso, see where all the Texas zombie wells are here. In addition to the leaks, the abandoned equipment and infrastructures create more hazards, especially to boaters who can easily run into sunken steel pipes and stuff.

Plugging wells on land can run from $30K - $35K each. In the bay, it goes up to about $500,000 per well and offshore; they're a cool million apiece. Funding is limited and loaded with conditions so, this isn't going to get fixed right away.