Ky. Rev. Stat. § 353.180 (2026)

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 there 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 department 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 provided 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. Effective: June 27, 2019 History: Amended 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 21, sec. 10, effective June 27, 2019. -- Amended 2015 Ky. Acts ch. 21, sec. 11, effective June 24, 2015. -- Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 160, sec. 1, effective July 12, 2006. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 277, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1996. -- Amended 1992 Ky. Acts ch. 348, sec. 7, effective July 14, 1992 -- Recodified 1942 Ky. Acts ch. 208, sec. 1, effective October 1, 1942, from Ky. Stat. secs. 3914, 3914a.