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For the first time in the United States, nearly $5 B in federal funding has been committed to plug documented orphaned wells. Orphaned wells are abandoned wells with no responsible entity to properly plug and restore the well, other than governments and the general public. By remaining unplugged, these wells can emit methane, contaminate water sources, degrade ecosystems, and impact human health. To inform policies, optimize mitigation, and improve our understanding of the environmental risks of orphaned wells, we analyze oil and gas well data from US state agencies to estimate the number and geographic location of documented orphaned wells. As of September 2021, we identify 81,857 documented orphaned wells eligible for federal funding for plugging and remediation. We find that documented orphaned well definitions and the content of state oil and gas databases vary across states, making it …