Abandoned Texas Oil Wells Seen As "Ticking Time Bombs" Of Contamination

"Texas is among several states grappling with a surge of abandoned drilling sites and dwindling funds to clean them up."

"IMPERIAL, Tex. — Peculiar things can happen after folks drill deep into the earth — looking for oil, water or whatever — and leave a bunch of holes in the ground. Fluids can gurgle and leak, migrating where they don’t belong. In rare instances, land could even sink or collapse.

The oddest unintended consequences tend to bubble up in this pockmarked slice of West Texas, where wildcatters started poking holes in the ground nearly a century ago.

'If this stuff was even close to Austin, hell, it’d be national news,' said Ty Edwards, the fresh-faced assistant general manager of the Middle Pecos Groundwater Conservation District, as he barreled down an empty stretch of highway during a June tour of the some of the standouts."

Jim Malewitz reports for the Texas Tribune December 21, 2016.