Earthquakes in Heart of Texas Oil Country Spur Water Crackdown
- Regulators eyeing new guidelines for dirty water by year’s end
- Reeves County is of particular interest to state regulators
A hydraulic fracking site near Mentone, Texas.
Photographer: Matthew Busch/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Texas is considering new restrictions on how shale explorers dispose of wastewater from oil drilling as earthquakes rattle the largest oil-producing American state.
The new rules would target how much and at what pressure briny water that emerges from oil wells is injected back into the ground, Jared Craighead, chief of staff for the Texas Railroad Commission, said by telephone Wednesday. The rules haven’t been finalized amid ongoing talks that include representatives from academia and the shale industry.