Our Lady of Angels Church #1 – located above the Rocky River in the City of Cleveland, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, this legacy well was drilled in 1908 into what was likely the “Clinton Formation,” one of Ohio’s natural gas bearing shale formations, to a depth of approximately -2,700’+/-. The well was producing up until the 1950s when it appears to have been idled and filled with a clay material, which was a common industry practice during that era.
In 1979, Our Lady of Angels Apartments, Inc. DBA Franciscan Village, a nonprofit collaboration, was formed to serve the anticipated future demand for affordable independent senior citizen housing. Upon the first residents occupying the two-building, 135-unit Franciscan Village, there was a waiting list of approximately 2,000 people. In 1992 the Franciscan Village expanded, constructing a third building, adding 41 additional units for a total of 176 apartments.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources issued the Plugging Permit on April 8, 2022 and Moore Well Services Inc. of Mogador, OH, began work. The team had to drill out the old plugging material and remove the failed casing pipe. They then drilled a larger diameter 8″ hole for a clean well bore and installed approximately 170′ of new 8″ steel casing, which was cemented on the backside – between the casing pipe and the formation. Moore then cleaned out the well bore and together with Petroset and Appalachian Well Surveys, cemented the cleaned well bore, set an 8″ bridge plug, and placed cement all the way to the surface on April 28, 2022.
