A group of students at Allderdice High School is trying to raise $5,000 to help the climate by plugging abandoned oil and gas wells.
Junior Lucy Hurowitz was inspired to start the Dice Well Done Club after reading about a similar effort from high schoolers in North Carolina.
Hurowitz said she doesn’t necessarily want to work in a scientific field, but she cares deeply about climate change.
“What I do know how to do is, I do know how to organize and I do know how to fundraise,” she said.
Hurowitz talked to some friends and recruited a teacher to be an advisor to the project, then reached out to the Well Done Foundation, which focuses on sealing problem wells across the country. The nonprofit is led by Curtis Shuck, an oil and gas industry veteran.
Even when oil and gas wells stop producing enough to make a profit, they leak methane that can contaminate water and harm people’s health. Methane is many times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere. Many abandoned wells were drilled long before there were laws on the books to require companies to clean up after themselves.
Olivia Boyle, a junior, said she was immediately interested when Hurowitz pitched the idea.
“I’ve always been interested in climate change and biology is something I want to go into, in the future, and so this is a really important topic for me,” Boyle said.
The club launched an online fundraiser and spread the word through social media. It partnered with Rita’s Italian Ice, sold snacks in the school cafeteria, and hosted a movie night.
The group raised $5,000 in 2025, which was matched by the Well Done Foundation and the Reimer Family Climate Crisis Fund to total $15,000. The money went to plug one well near Erie.
This year, the club is hoping to raise the same amount. Boyle said they are planning similar fundraisers, but hope to add an Earth Day event this April.
Jordan Block, a junior, said he hopes to plug a well closer to home this time.
“So that we can really emphasize the local impact that plugging the well will have,” Block said. “These orphan wells, they’re leaking methane into the water supply and greenhouse gases into the air, and they’re really polluting a lot…wherever they’re around.”
The exact number of abandoned wells in Pennsylvania is unknown. The state has documented at least 30,000, but the Shapiro administration estimates it could be 300,000 or more. The wells are responsible for an estimated 8% of Pennsylvania’s methane emissions.
Plugging efforts ramped up with new funding under the Biden Administration. Pennsylvania had been sealing several wells each year before the new money. Last March, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced the 300th well had been plugged under his administration.
The Allderdice students said the scope of the problem can be discouraging, but it feels good to do something, rather than noting.
“Things don’t change overnight. So, I think it’s nice to know that we are part of that change,” Boyle said.
Getting other students involved in their cause also helps to keep them motivated.
“It’s nice to keep a window open for other students who also want to make a difference with us,” said Seena Teshome, a junior.
The club’s impact could expand beyond one well per year.
Hurowitz said the Well Done Foundation has asked the club if it could be a blueprint for other schools and help students set up their own chapters.
“ It feels really good that people can see what we’re doing and that anyone would also want to follow us,” she said. “We modeled after the Youth Climate Initiative [in North Carolina] and the fact that someone could want to model after us is amazing.”