A Giant Oil-Soaked Geyser is Spewing Filth Into the West Texas Sky
In what sounds like the grossest water show ever, a geyser of salty, possibly oil-laced water is blasting 100 feet into the air in West Texas, where earthquakes caused by wastewater injections have been shaking things up lately.
We don’t know the source of the geyser yet; a Texas Railroad Commission map showed the area has a (formerly) dry hole, the Houston Chronicle reported. They added that the salty water appears to be laced with oil.
This surge in seismic activity is largely centered in the Permian Basin, West Texas' most productive oil and gas region. Scientific research strongly suggests that this increase is largely due to the disposal of vast amounts of contaminated, salty water deep underground — a common practice used by oil companies following hydraulic fracturing, which can activate dormant fault lines.
The Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates our oil and gas industry, has been trying to rein in wastewater injections in this region, after realizing that, surprise, injecting water deep underground might cause things like earthquakes! In December, they even warned operators they’d be suspending permits to slow down this underground water park experiment.
Reeves County Emergency Management and folks from energy infrastructure giant Kinder Morgan were on the scene Wednesday afternoon, the Chronicle reported. We assume they were trying not to gag from the delightful combo of oil and rotten eggs — a.k.a. hydrogen sulfide gas, a toxic little bonus feature.
Oil and gas attorney Sarah Stogner and well-control expert Hawk Dunlap (great name) also showed up to check out the rogue waterworks. These two have become unofficial "zombie well" hunters, tracking down old wells that should be resting in peace but keep springing back to life with bursts of toxic water.
As for Reeves County Emergency Manager Jerry Bullard, he had nothing to say. Because when most of your county’s budget comes from oil and gas, it’s probably best not to make a big deal about geysers that smell like a gas station in a sulfur pit.
West Texas has experienced a significant rise in earthquakes in recent years. In 2021, more than 200 earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 or greater were recorded, which was more than double the 98 reported in 2020, according to a Texas Tribune analysis of state data from the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin.
