Strengthen H.R. 8790: Prevent Abandoned-Well Liabilities From NextGen Geothermal

I urge you, as your constituent, to strengthen H.R. 8790 so that next-generation and closed-loop geothermal development does not create a new class of abandoned-borehole environmental liabilities. The bill emphasizes research, testing capability, data sharing, and water-use reporting, but it does not clearly require the end-of-life obligations that matter most: what happens when a borehole is decommissioned, a project is suspended, or a developer becomes insolvent. We have a cautionary example from abandoned oil and gas wells. When wells are left unplugged or inadequately sealed, regulators and taxpayers are often forced to finance cleanup because bankrupt companies cannot complete remediation. That creates long-term, site-specific harms and unresolved costs. Let’s not add a new set of subsurface failures in the name of energy innovation. If geothermal boreholes are not properly managed at closure, the environmental risks are predictable. First, there is groundwater contamination and drinking-water impairment. Geothermal formation fluids—often saline and mineral-rich—can migrate into fresh groundwater through the borehole pathway if the well intersects aquifers and casing/cement isolation is inadequate. Second, there are surface water impacts. Fluids can migrate upward and emerge at the surface (or into shallow subsurface), degrading streams, springs, wetlands, and other water bodies through changes in salinity, dissolved metals/minerals, and temperature. Third, there is upward migration of gases. If the reservoir contains noncondensable gases (commonly including CO2 and potentially H2S depending on the resource), those gases can travel up the borehole, contributing to air emissions and creating local air-quality and safety hazards near the surface. Fourth, there can be brine/chemical leakage. Leaking wellbore fluids can introduce dissolved salts and trace constituents (such as metals and silica) that affect soil and vegetation and increase salinity in nearby shallow environments. Please amend H.R. 8790 to require, at minimum: 1) Specific, enforceable geothermal borehole abandonment and plugging requirements; 2) Bonding or other financial assurance measures required upfront so the resources needed to seal, plug, and complete abandonment are available if a project is discontinued or the developer becomes insolvent; 3) Clear timelines, verification/inspection steps, and penalties for noncompliance; and 4) Public reporting of closure plans and abandonment outcomes tied to the bill’s data repository. Geothermal can be a real climate solution—but only if we build it responsibly from drilling to final closure. You are being asked to accelerate next-generation geothermal; you should not be asked—implicitly or later—to authorize a future wave of abandoned-borehole contamination that communities will have to clean up at public expense. Require enforceable plugging standards and bonding upfront now, before the first wells are drilled, and make the end of a project as accountable as its beginning. Let’s begin as we mean to go on.