Texas oil and gas companies are finding it more difficult to dump waster water from fracking operations after the Texas Railroad Commission limited the amount of waste water that can be injected back into the ground, Injection on a large scale caused localized earthquakes. Now, companies want to dump treated waste water, called 'produced water" by the industry into rivers and creeks. One proposed site is the Pecos River where the company Texas Pacific Water Resources is seeking a permit to dispose of 840, 000 gallons a day of oil field waste water. Federal regulations governing disposal of this type of waste are not robust. Texas' Environmental Quality Commission has already issued permits for dumping in the Eagle Shale Basin and is reviewing another.
A wide range of chemicals have been detected in produced water since fracking operations use a multitude of chemical lubricants, hydrocarbons including benzene toulene and naturally occurring substances dislodged from the ground. These substances include radioactive minerals and PFAS known as "forever chemicals". Texas joins Pennsylvania and Wyoming in allowing the disposal of produced water into the environmnent. Colorado has authorized fourteen discharge permits. These are all have major oil and gas sectors. New Mexico has decided to wait until more scientific information is available about the effects of these discharges. Pennsylvania State researchers found elevated levels of salt and radioactive chemicals related to the Marcellus Shale deposit in rivers downstream from discharges.
