KRS 353.180: Requirements for plugging abandoned well -- Bids -- Remedy for possessor

of adjacent land or for department.

(1) No person shall abandon or remove casings from any oil or gas well, either dry or

producing, without first plugging the well in a secure manner approved by the

department and consistent with its administrative regulations. Upon the

department's plugging of an abandoned well in accordance with the requirements of

this subsection, the department may sell, by sealed bid, or include as part of

compensation in the contract for the plugging of the well, all equipment removed

from that well and deposit the proceeds of the sale into the oil and gas well plugging

fund, established in KRS 353.590(27).

(2) Not less than thirty (30) days before advertising for bids for the plugging of wells,

the department shall publish, in a newspaper of general circulation, and in locally

published newspapers serving the areas in which the wells proposed for plugging

are located, notices of all wells on which t here is salvageable equipment, described

as to farm name and Carter Coordinate location, for which the department intends to

seek bids for plugging. If a person other than the operator claims an interest in the

equipment of a well proposed for plugging, he shall provide documentation of that

interest to the department within thirty (30) days of the date of publication of the

notice of the department's intent to plug a well. Prior to the department's advertising

of bids for the plugging of a well, the depart ment shall release the well's equipment

to the person deemed to have an interest in that equipment and it shall be the duty of

the interest holder to remove the equipment before the well is plugged. If

documentation as to an asserted interest is not provid ed to the department in the

manner described in this subsection or a person deemed to be an interest holder fails

to remove the equipment before a well is plugged, the department may sell or

otherwise dispose of the equipment in accordance with this subsection.

(3) If a person fails to comply with subsection (1) of this section, any person lawfully in

possession of land adjacent to the well or the department may enter on the land

upon which the well is located and plug the well in the manner provided in

subsection (1) of this section, and may maintain a civil action against the owner or

person abandoning the well, jointly or severally, to recover the cost of plugging the

well. This subsection shall not apply to persons owning the land on which the well

is situated, and drilled by other persons.