A recent study from Southern Methodist University has indicated that fracking wastewater injected underground for disposal has traveled a significant distance through geological faults, culminating in a blowout at a previously plugged West Texas oil well in 2022. As reported by the Texas Tribune, this study provides the first concrete evidence linking wastewater injection to the recent blowouts in the Permian Basin, a region currently ranked as the nation's most productive oil field.
Concerns are rising over the potential for widespread groundwater contamination because of these findings, particularly given the Permian Basin's reliance on old oil wells that have started to discharge saline water. The study, supported partially by NASA, has underscored "a potential for more blowouts in the near future," a significant wake-up call for oil producers in West Texas inundated with millions of gallons of toxic wastewater daily.
Injection disposal remains the most popular and cheapest method for handling copious amounts of oilfield wastewater, commonly deemed produced water. According to the same Texas Tribune report, the Texas oilfield regulator, the Texas Railroad Commission, has authorized thousands of injection wells across the Permian Basin. Despite notions of alternative methods such as fracking water reuse or releasing treated water into rivers, underground injection persists as the dominant method.
Seismic activity has also been tied to the injection practices, with tremors in the Permian Basin reaching a peak with a magnitude 5.4 earthquake in late 2023, prompting stricter controls on injections. "It just validates what we’ve been saying," Sarah Stogner, an oil and gas attorney, told the Texas Tribune. Stogner has been representing the Antina Cattle Ranch, where numerous abandoned oil wells have reactivated, sending briny water to the surface, purportedly due to nearby wastewater injection.
The study, detailed in the journal "Geophysical Research Letters," traced the cause of a significant blowout in Crane County to nine injection wells about 12 miles away. It disclosed that the volume of the underground bulges matched the injected volume, strengthening the case between wastewater injection and surface blowouts in the area. As expressed in the research, “These observations suggest that this group of injection wells to the NW of the study area, injecting into the San Andres and Glorieta formations, is responsible for the surface deformation in the region.”
The implications of these findings have prompted the call for tighter regulations, particularly concerning the management of abandoned wells. The Southern Methodist University study did not go into the possibilities of groundwater contamination, yet this remains a pressing concern for residents, as highlighted by several ranchers in reports and meetings with the Railroad Commission, discussing the harm endured by their lands due to the seepage of contaminated water.
Both Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin have financially backed The Texas Tribune; however, these institutions hold no sway in the Tribune's journalistic efforts. A complete list of their sponsors can be found on their website.
