Foul black water has erupted from another West Texas well in the same area as one that flowed toxic water for weeks and inspired a controversial no-fly zone in December.
The latest well, discovered Saturday in northern Pecos County, is about 14 miles from the “unusual” Crane County well that raised eyebrows earlier this year. It’s roughly 5 miles from the so-called Lake Boehmer, the infamous ever-growing 60-acre body of poison water spewing from an old wildcat well.
It’s the latest sign of trouble under the aging oil fields just north of Fort Stockton, where water under pressure can travel underground — at times carrying radioactive elements, chemicals and other oil field waste — until it finds the path of least resistance to the surface, often an unplugged well, and bursts to the surface.
...The state is treading water with its list of more than 8,000 orphaned oil and gas wells, which are neglected wells left to rot by oil companies that have gone bankrupt or no longer exist. The commission’s crews are working steadily to plug orphan wells, yet the list is growing just as fast...more
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