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permian basin

Water flows from an orphaned oil well on Schuyler Wight’s ranch in Pecos County, Texas. Credit: Courtesy of Schuyler Wight

Another Blowout Adds to Mystery of Permian Basin Water Pressure

By Dylan Baddour
A view of an oil well adjacent to the Red Bluff Reservoir in Reeves County, Texas on Feb. 24, 2020. NGL Water Solutions Permian has proposed to discharge treated produced water into the reservoir. Credit: Justin Hamel

Texas Companies Eye Pecos River Watershed for Oilfield Wastewater

By Martha Pskowski, Dylan Baddour
Sharon Wilson of Oilfield Witness sets up her Optical Gas Imaging camera outside a ONEOK compressor station near the Waha Hub in Pecos County, Texas on March 16. Credit: Martha Pskowski/Inside Climate News

When Natural Gas Prices Cool, Flares Burn in the Permian Basin

By Martha Pskowski
A network of insulated pipes that carry liquified natural gas from ships to giant storage tanks at Sempra Energy's Costa Azul LNG terminal located about 50 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Credit: Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

LNG Exports From Mexico in Limbo While Pipeline Project Plows Ahead

By Martha Pskowski
Bill Wight looks at the well that leaked enormous volumes of saltwater on his property. It took crews over a month to seal the well and stop the leak. Credit: Sarah M. Vasquez/The Texas Tribune

‘Nobody Really Knows What You’re Supposed to Do’: Leaking, Abandoned Wells Wreak Havoc in West Texas 

By Martha Pskowski, Inside Climate News and Carlos Nogueras, Texas Tribune
Marathon Petroleum's El Paso refinery contributes to local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Credit: Martha Pskowski/Inside Climate News

El Paso Challenges Oil Refinery Permit

By Martha Pskowski
Ed Puckett helps operate Toyah's water treatment plant on a volunteer basis. During a tour of the plant in early February, he maintained that the water is safe to drink. Credit: Mitch Borden/Marfa Public Radio

How State Regulators Allowed a Fading West Texas Town to Go Over Four Years Without Safe Drinking Water

By Martha Pskowski
A malfunctioning flare at a tank battery in the New Mexico Permian Basin, photographed on Feb. 6, 2023. Incomplete combustion in a flare, as pictured, generates more emissions. Credit: WildEarth Guardians.

As Enforcement Falls Short, Many Worry That Companies Are Flouting New Mexico’s Landmark Gas Flaring Rules

By Martha Pskowski
David Shifflett, a farmer in Reeves County, parses records of his protests to the Texas Railroad Commission against permits for nearby wastewater injection wells.

Landowners Fear Injection of Fracking Waste Threatens Aquifers in West Texas

By Dylan Baddour, Inside Climate News, with photos by Pu Ying Huang, Texas Tribune  
A flare stack is pictured next to pump jacks and other oil and gas infrastructure on April 24, 2020 near Odessa, Texas. Credit: Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images

Texas Environmentalists Look to EPA for Action on Methane, Saying State Agencies Have ‘Failed Us’

By Martha Pskowski
In an aerial view, an oil pumpjack works in the Permian Basin oil field on March 12, 2022 in Crane, Texas. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

EPA Moves Away From Permian Air Pollution Crackdown

By Martha Pskowski, Dylan Baddour
A fracking site is situated on the outskirts of town in the Permian Basin oil field on Jan. 21, 2016 in the oil town of Midland, Texas. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Fracking Waste Gets a Second Look to Ease Looming West Texas Water Shortage

By Dylan Baddour
Workers at a fracking rig in Midland. Studies have linked disposal of fracking wastewater with an increase in seismic activity in Texas, and the Texas Railroad Commission is now investigating a 5.4 magnitude quake that struck West Texas this week. Credit: Jerod Foster for The Texas Tribune

Texas Oil and Gas Agency Investigating 5.4 Magnitude Earthquake in West Texas, the Largest in Three Decades

By Erin Douglas, The Texas Tribune and Dylan Baddour, Inside Climate News
An oil pumpjack operates in the Permian Basin oil field in Odessa, Texas. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Texas Study Finds ‘Massive Amount’ of Toxic Wastewater With Few Options for Reuse

By Dylan Baddour
Workers for an oilfield service company work at a drilling site in the Permian Basin oil field on Jan. 20, 2016 in the oil town of Andrews, Texas. Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

A New GOP Climate Plan Is Long on Fossil Fuels, Short on Specifics

By Dan Gearino

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