injection wells
Newsletter
Credit: Jonathan Cutrer/Flickr
Water gushes from abandoned oil wells in Texas
A troubling trend of water erupting from abandoned oil wells in West Texas raises unanswered questions about the cause and impact on the environment.
In short:
- Water has been gushing from abandoned oil wells on Schuyler Wight's West Texas ranch, with no clear explanation from regulators.
- The Texas Railroad Commission has been unable to determine the cause, despite numerous incidents and cleanup efforts.
- Experts suggest that the injection of fracking wastewater might be increasing underground pressure, leading to these blowouts.
Key quote:
“There’s been such an increase in disposal of produced water over the past decade, there’s an overwhelming amount of water being disposed. That pressure has to go somewhere.”
— Dominic DiGiulio, an environmental consultant and geoscientist
Why this matters:
These unexplained water eruptions, occurring in an area with weak regulatory oversight, could have severe long-term effects on local ecosystems and agriculture.
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Another large earthquake shakes the Texas oilfield
The 5.2 magnitude earthquake is tied for the fourth strongest in Texas history. It occurred in an area where oilfield companies have long been injecting wastewater from fracking underground.
This rural township is trying to make it easier to fight injection wells
Officials in Clara Township in Potter County, Pa., said they weren't notified about an injection well application in time. They want to change that.
After Fayette County’s first proposed injection well is withdrawn, residents are still worried
The injection well would have been 300 feet from the nearest home and dispose of fracking wastewater, which may pose risks to groundwater and air quality.
Newsletter
A rural Pennsylvania community goes to Commonwealth Court, trying to stop a new disposal well for toxic fracking wastewater
The facility, in Plum Borough outside Pittsburgh, would be the state’s 15th “injection” well. Pennsylvania’s gas industry has never had a comprehensive plan for disposing of vast quantities of highly polluting produced water.
At a ‘climate convergence,’ Pennsylvania environmental activists urge Gov. Shapiro and state lawmakers to do more to curb emissions
Democratic state Sen. Katie Muth, one of only a few lawmakers in attendance, said strong action isn’t likely, given the state’s “bipartisan love affair with gas and oil.” But two Republicans have introduced legislation banning injection wells for toxic wastewater from fracking.
Newsletter
EPA approves permit for controversial fracking disposal well in Pennsylvania
The well, in Plum Borough near Pittsburgh, is a repurposed conventional well, which locals fear is at higher risk for leaks and material failures that could contaminate local drinking water.
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