Drones Help Identify Dangerous, Hard-to-Locate Unplugged Oil Wells The of unplugged oil wells, which pose a major threat to the environment. Image Credit: Binghamton University, State University of New York. Now, with the help of drones, scientists from the State University of New York at Binghamton University have designed a novel technique to detect these dangerous wells that are difficult to locate. There are around 35,000 abandoned gas and oil wells in New York State, while there are over 600,000 wells in Pennsylvania, dating back to the initial days of drilling. On the whole, there are around two million abandoned wells in the U.S. And all these wells pose numerous risks.