{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-353.180","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 353.180","heading":"Requirements for plugging abandoned well -- Bids -- Remedy for possessor","body":"of adjacent land or for department.\n(1) No person shall abandon or remove casings from any oil or gas well, either dry or\nproducing, without first plugging the well in a  secure manner approved by the\ndepartment and consistent with its administrative regulations. Upon the\ndepartment's plugging of an abandoned well in accordance with the requirements of\nthis subsection, the department may sell, by sealed bid, or include as part of\ncompensation in the contract for the plugging of the well, all equipment removed\nfrom that well and deposit the proceeds of the sale into the oil and gas well plugging\nfund, established in KRS 353.590(27).\n(2) Not less than thirty (30) days before advertising for bids for the plugging of wells,\nthe department shall publish, in a newspaper of general circulation, and in locally\npublished newspapers serving the areas in which the wells proposed for plugging\nare located, notices of all wells on which t here is salvageable equipment, described\nas to farm name and Carter Coordinate location, for which the department intends to\nseek bids for plugging. If a person other than the operator claims an interest in the\nequipment of a well proposed for plugging, he  shall provide documentation of that\ninterest to the department within thirty (30) days of the date of publication of the\nnotice of the department's intent to plug a well. Prior to the department's advertising\nof bids for the plugging of a well, the depart ment shall release the well's equipment\nto the person deemed to have an interest in that equipment and it shall be the duty of\nthe interest holder to remove the equipment before the well is plugged. If\ndocumentation as to an asserted interest is not provid ed to the department in the\nmanner described in this subsection or a person deemed to be an interest holder fails\nto remove the equipment before a well is plugged, the department may sell or\notherwise dispose of the equipment in accordance with this subsection.\n(3) If a person fails to comply with subsection (1) of this section, any person lawfully in\npossession of land adjacent to the well or the department may enter on the land\nupon which the well is located and plug the well in the manner provided in\nsubsection (1) of this section, and may maintain a civil action against the owner or\nperson abandoning the well, jointly or severally, to recover the cost of plugging the\nwell. This subsection shall not apply to persons owning the land on which the well\nis situated, and drilled by other persons.","path":["KRS Chapter 353"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=48622","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:39Z","sha256":"be0beac2e228295658bcae087555987df2468abc778b870296cb3d0c684e0462","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-353.170","next":"us-ky/krs-353.190"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}