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Ranchers reported abandoned oil wells spewing wastewater. A new study blames fracking.

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Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. Fracking wastewater, injected underground for permanent disposal, traveled 12 miles through geological faults before bursting to the surface through a previously plugged West Texas oil well in 2022, according to a new study from Southern Methodist University. It’s the first study to draw specific links between wastewater injection and recent blowouts in the Permian Basin, the nation’s top producing oil field, where old oil wells have lately begun to spray salty water. It raises concerns about the possibility of widespread groundwater contamination in West Texas and increases the urgency for oil producers to find alternative outlets for the millions of gallons of toxic wastewater that come from Permian Basin oil wells every day. “We established a significant link between wastewater injection and oil well blowouts in the Permian Basin,” wrote the authors of the study, funded in part by NASA and published last month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The finding suggests "a potential for more blowouts in the near future,” it said. For years, the Texas agency that regulates the oil and gas extraction industry has refrained from putting forth an explanation for the blowout phenomenon, even as a chorus of local landowners alleged that wastewater injections were driving the flows of gassy brine onto the surface of their properties since about 2022. Injection disposal is currently the primary outlet for the tremendous amount of oilfield wastewater, also known as produced water, that flows from fracked oil wells in West Texas. Thousands of injection wells dot the Permian Basin, each reviewed and permitted by Texas’ oilfield regulator, the Texas Railroad Commission. Oil producers are exploring alternatives — a small portion of produced water is reused in fracking, and Texas is in the process of permitting facilities that will treat produced water and release it into rivers and streams. Still, underground injection remains the cheapest and most popular method by far. A scientific connection has solidified between the practice of injection disposal and the increasing strength and frequency of earthquakes nearby. In the Permian Basin, a steady crescendo of tremors peaked last November with magnitude 5.4 earthquake, the state’s strongest in 30 years, triggering heightened restrictions on injections in the area. The link between injections and surface blowouts, however, has remained unconfirmed, despite widespread suspicions. The latest study marks a big step forward in scientific documentation. “It just validates what we’ve been saying,” Sarah Stogner, an oil and gas attorney who ran an unsuccessful campaign for a seat on the Railroad Commission in 2022, said about the latest study. For the last three years, Stogner has represented the Antina Cattle Ranch, where dozens of abandoned oil wells have been spraying back to life. Stogner persistently alleged that nearby wastewater injection was responsible. But she couldn’t prove it. Now a scientific consensus is beginning to fall in behind her. “Our work independently comes to this same conclusion in different areas [of the Permian Basin],” said Katie Smye, a geologist with the Center for Injection and Seismicity Research at the University of Texas at Austin, citing several upcoming papers she and her colleagues will release at major geoscience conferences in the coming year. “There is a link between injection and surface flows in some cases.” In a study published December 2023, Smye and others reported “linear surface deformation features” in parts of the Permian Basin — the ground was swelling along channels that suggested pressure moving through underground faults. Some of those were ancient geological faults, Smye said; others appeared to be created by recent human activity. Many of them were growing, heaving and bulging, the research showed. When that channel of underground pressure hits an old oil well that is broken or improperly plugged, it can shoot to the surface. “This is reaching a critical point in the Permian Basin,” Smye said. “The scale of injection needs is increasing.” About 15 million barrels, or 630 million gallons, of produced water are injected for disposal in the Permian Basin every day, Smye said. A Railroad Commission spokesperson, Patty Ramon, said in a statement the agency is “talking to operators in the Crane County area regarding geology and other data they maintain, reviewing satellite imagery, and analyzing RRC records such as well plugging information. “We will be continuing this type of analysis in our commitment to ensuring environmental protection,” Ramon said. Blowout in 2022 sparks study The SMU study examined a January 2022 blowout in Crane County that gushed almost 15 million gallons of brine before it was capped, according to the paper. That would fill about 23 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The study traced the cause of the blowout to a cluster of nine injection wells about 12 miles to the northeast. Researchers pulled publicly available data on injection volumes at those wells and found they lined up closely to surface swelling that preceded the blowout. Seven of the wells belong to Goodnight Midstream and two belong to Blackbeard Operating, according to Railroad Commission records. A spokesperson for Blackbeard said the company “is committed to ensuring prudent operations” and “will continue to operate its assets in accordance with all applicable laws and in coordination with all applicable regulatory agencies.” Goodnight did not respond to a query. According to the paper, injection at those nine wells began in 2018 at a rate of about 362,000 gallons per day and doubled to 720,000 gallons per day in late 2019. In late 2020 it doubled again to 1.5 million gallons — two Olympic-sized swimming pools crammed underground everyday — which is when the ground near the blowout site began to inflate. The study found that the volume injected matched the volume of the surface bulge 12 miles away. “These observations suggest that this group of injection wells to the NW of the study area, injecting into the San Andres and Glorieta formations, is responsible for the surface deformation in the region,” the study said. Those wells reached a depth between 4,300 and 3,300 feet. But the SMU study found that the source of the bulge in the earth was much shallower, between 2,300 and 1,600 feet underground. “This suggests the leakage of wastewater from the San Andres or Glorieta formations to the shallow formations,” the study said. The bottom of the Rustler Aquifer, the lowest usable source of groundwater in the Permian, sits between 800 and 1,000 feet underground. The SMU study did not examine the possibility of groundwater contamination. “Our findings highlight the need for stricter regulations on wastewater injection practices and proper management of abandoned wells,” the study said. Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, said the Railroad Commission “is taking appropriate action by thoroughly gathering and reviewing data to address the issues experienced in Crane County.” He said the industry cooperates with the Railroad Commission by providing data to help analyze geological formations. “In addition, the industry and academia continue to explore alternatives to wastewater injection through market-based water reuse and recycling as well as innovative pilot programs,” Staples said. Ranchers report damaged land West Texas ranchers who own land where contaminated water is seeping from underground are beginning to worry it will soon become uninhabitable. Last February, saltwater flooded parts of Bill Wight’s ranch, about 50 miles southwest of Odessa. The lifelong rancher purchased the land in 2012, hoping to pass it on to his kids. He told The Texas Tribune he wasn’t sure how much of the ranch would survive the leaking wells. When it was clear the flow of water threatened the property last December, he asked the Railroad Commission to seal the well the water had leaked from. It took the commission months and millions of dollars to plug the well. His brother, Schuyler Wight, faces a similar predicament at his ranch roughly 60 miles to the west in Pecos County. He has asked the Railroad Commission for years to investigate the multiple abandoned leaking wells on his property. The liquid has eroded the equipment on the surface and killed the plants. After the water dried up, the ground was crusted white from salt. “It’s what we’ve known all along,” Schuyler Wight said. “What we’re doing is not sustainable.” Ashley Watt, owner of a ranch 50 miles east of Schuyler Wight’s ranch in Crane County, told the Texas Railroad Commission during a 2022 meeting that she believed excessive injection by nearby oil producers was causing the fluids to spray from abandoned oil wells on her property. A Railroad Commission staff member said the agency asked operators to check for a source of the leak. The operators told the commission they did not find any. The Railroad Commission during the meeting also said they did not find a well in the agency’s database, and that the nearest injection wells were less than two miles away. The agency instructed staff to prevent truckers from accessing those injection sites, telling operators to find others “until further notice.” The wells continue to leak. Laura Briggs, who also owns a ranch in Pecos County less than half a mile east of Schuyler Wight’s place, said she has seen five old wells start leaking water since 2015. The Railroad Commission plugged two of them, she said, but one began to leak through the seal again. Briggs has repeatedly given testimony and submitted documentation to the Railroad Commission asking for help. Based on her experience, she believes the subterranean problems in West Texas are much more than what the Railroad Commission can handle. “If I could do one thing differently, we would have gotten a mobile home so it was easier to get the hell out of here,” Briggs said. “If this [ranch] goes leaking, we just have to leave and nobody will buy the property, no insurance will cover it, you’re just done.” Despite those problems, the Railroad Commission approved 400 new disposal wells in the Permian Basin alone in 2021, according to agency documents, and 480 in 2022. Threats to groundwater The use of injection wells for disposal has expanded immensely with the practice of fracking, according to Dominic DiGiulio, a geoscientist who worked for 30 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But DiGiulio said these wells are still regulated under rules from the 1970s and ’80s. Increasingly, he said, those rules appear insufficient. “West Texas isn’t the only place where this is happening,” DiGiulio said. “Overpressurization of aquifers due to disposal of produced water is a problem.” In 2022, DiGiulio conducted a review of Ohio’s wastewater injection program for the group Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy and found the same two problems there: Injected fluids were leaking from some formations meant to contain them, and excessive injections were causing other formations to become overpressurized. There was one big difference with Texas. In November 2021, DiGiulio’s study said, Ohio had just 228 injection wells for wastewater disposal. Texas, meanwhile, had 13,585 in 2022, according to Railroad Commission documents. The primary threat posed by produced water migrating from injection wells is groundwater contamination. If deep formations fail to contain the toxic waste injected into them, that waste could end up in shallow freshwater aquifers. It could happen two ways, DiGiulio said. If the wastewater enters the inside of an old oil well through corroded holes in the casing, it can travel up the steel pipe to the surface, spilling and seeping into the ground. If the wastewater moves up the outside of an old oil well, through the cement that surrounds the steel pipe, it could already be flowing into the aquifer. That would be bad news for West Texas, which depends almost entirely on groundwater for drinking and crop irrigation. “Once groundwater contamination happens, it’s too expensive to remediate,” DiGiulio said. “So when it occurs, that’s basically it. You’ve ruined that resource.” Disclosure: Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. The full program is now LIVE for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Explore the program featuring more than 100 unforgettable conversations on topics covering education, the economy, Texas and national politics, criminal justice, the border, the 2024 elections and so much more. See the full program.

An SMU study is the first scientific proof of a phenomenon local landowners have long warned was occurring.

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.


Fracking wastewater, injected underground for permanent disposal, traveled 12 miles through geological faults before bursting to the surface through a previously plugged West Texas oil well in 2022, according to a new study from Southern Methodist University.

It’s the first study to draw specific links between wastewater injection and recent blowouts in the Permian Basin, the nation’s top producing oil field, where old oil wells have lately begun to spray salty water.

It raises concerns about the possibility of widespread groundwater contamination in West Texas and increases the urgency for oil producers to find alternative outlets for the millions of gallons of toxic wastewater that come from Permian Basin oil wells every day.

“We established a significant link between wastewater injection and oil well blowouts in the Permian Basin,” wrote the authors of the study, funded in part by NASA and published last month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. The finding suggests "a potential for more blowouts in the near future,” it said.

For years, the Texas agency that regulates the oil and gas extraction industry has refrained from putting forth an explanation for the blowout phenomenon, even as a chorus of local landowners alleged that wastewater injections were driving the flows of gassy brine onto the surface of their properties since about 2022.

Injection disposal is currently the primary outlet for the tremendous amount of oilfield wastewater, also known as produced water, that flows from fracked oil wells in West Texas. Thousands of injection wells dot the Permian Basin, each reviewed and permitted by Texas’ oilfield regulator, the Texas Railroad Commission.

Oil producers are exploring alternatives — a small portion of produced water is reused in fracking, and Texas is in the process of permitting facilities that will treat produced water and release it into rivers and streams. Still, underground injection remains the cheapest and most popular method by far.

A scientific connection has solidified between the practice of injection disposal and the increasing strength and frequency of earthquakes nearby. In the Permian Basin, a steady crescendo of tremors peaked last November with magnitude 5.4 earthquake, the state’s strongest in 30 years, triggering heightened restrictions on injections in the area.

The link between injections and surface blowouts, however, has remained unconfirmed, despite widespread suspicions. The latest study marks a big step forward in scientific documentation.

“It just validates what we’ve been saying,” Sarah Stogner, an oil and gas attorney who ran an unsuccessful campaign for a seat on the Railroad Commission in 2022, said about the latest study.

For the last three years, Stogner has represented the Antina Cattle Ranch, where dozens of abandoned oil wells have been spraying back to life. Stogner persistently alleged that nearby wastewater injection was responsible. But she couldn’t prove it.

Now a scientific consensus is beginning to fall in behind her.

“Our work independently comes to this same conclusion in different areas [of the Permian Basin],” said Katie Smye, a geologist with the Center for Injection and Seismicity Research at the University of Texas at Austin, citing several upcoming papers she and her colleagues will release at major geoscience conferences in the coming year. “There is a link between injection and surface flows in some cases.”

In a study published December 2023, Smye and others reported “linear surface deformation features” in parts of the Permian Basin — the ground was swelling along channels that suggested pressure moving through underground faults. Some of those were ancient geological faults, Smye said; others appeared to be created by recent human activity. Many of them were growing, heaving and bulging, the research showed.

When that channel of underground pressure hits an old oil well that is broken or improperly plugged, it can shoot to the surface.

“This is reaching a critical point in the Permian Basin,” Smye said. “The scale of injection needs is increasing.”

About 15 million barrels, or 630 million gallons, of produced water are injected for disposal in the Permian Basin every day, Smye said.

A Railroad Commission spokesperson, Patty Ramon, said in a statement the agency is “talking to operators in the Crane County area regarding geology and other data they maintain, reviewing satellite imagery, and analyzing RRC records such as well plugging information.

“We will be continuing this type of analysis in our commitment to ensuring environmental protection,” Ramon said.

Blowout in 2022 sparks study

The SMU study examined a January 2022 blowout in Crane County that gushed almost 15 million gallons of brine before it was capped, according to the paper. That would fill about 23 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The study traced the cause of the blowout to a cluster of nine injection wells about 12 miles to the northeast. Researchers pulled publicly available data on injection volumes at those wells and found they lined up closely to surface swelling that preceded the blowout. Seven of the wells belong to Goodnight Midstream and two belong to Blackbeard Operating, according to Railroad Commission records.

A spokesperson for Blackbeard said the company “is committed to ensuring prudent operations” and “will continue to operate its assets in accordance with all applicable laws and in coordination with all applicable regulatory agencies.”

Goodnight did not respond to a query.

According to the paper, injection at those nine wells began in 2018 at a rate of about 362,000 gallons per day and doubled to 720,000 gallons per day in late 2019. In late 2020 it doubled again to 1.5 million gallons — two Olympic-sized swimming pools crammed underground everyday — which is when the ground near the blowout site began to inflate.

The study found that the volume injected matched the volume of the surface bulge 12 miles away.

“These observations suggest that this group of injection wells to the NW of the study area, injecting into the San Andres and Glorieta formations, is responsible for the surface deformation in the region,” the study said.

Those wells reached a depth between 4,300 and 3,300 feet. But the SMU study found that the source of the bulge in the earth was much shallower, between 2,300 and 1,600 feet underground.

“This suggests the leakage of wastewater from the San Andres or Glorieta formations to the shallow formations,” the study said.

The bottom of the Rustler Aquifer, the lowest usable source of groundwater in the Permian, sits between 800 and 1,000 feet underground. The SMU study did not examine the possibility of groundwater contamination.

“Our findings highlight the need for stricter regulations on wastewater injection practices and proper management of abandoned wells,” the study said.

Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil and Gas Association, said the Railroad Commission “is taking appropriate action by thoroughly gathering and reviewing data to address the issues experienced in Crane County.”

He said the industry cooperates with the Railroad Commission by providing data to help analyze geological formations. “In addition, the industry and academia continue to explore alternatives to wastewater injection through market-based water reuse and recycling as well as innovative pilot programs,” Staples said.

Ranchers report damaged land

West Texas ranchers who own land where contaminated water is seeping from underground are beginning to worry it will soon become uninhabitable.

Last February, saltwater flooded parts of Bill Wight’s ranch, about 50 miles southwest of Odessa. The lifelong rancher purchased the land in 2012, hoping to pass it on to his kids. He told The Texas Tribune he wasn’t sure how much of the ranch would survive the leaking wells.

When it was clear the flow of water threatened the property last December, he asked the Railroad Commission to seal the well the water had leaked from. It took the commission months and millions of dollars to plug the well.

His brother, Schuyler Wight, faces a similar predicament at his ranch roughly 60 miles to the west in Pecos County. He has asked the Railroad Commission for years to investigate the multiple abandoned leaking wells on his property. The liquid has eroded the equipment on the surface and killed the plants. After the water dried up, the ground was crusted white from salt.

“It’s what we’ve known all along,” Schuyler Wight said. “What we’re doing is not sustainable.”

Ashley Watt, owner of a ranch 50 miles east of Schuyler Wight’s ranch in Crane County, told the Texas Railroad Commission during a 2022 meeting that she believed excessive injection by nearby oil producers was causing the fluids to spray from abandoned oil wells on her property.

A Railroad Commission staff member said the agency asked operators to check for a source of the leak. The operators told the commission they did not find any. The Railroad Commission during the meeting also said they did not find a well in the agency’s database, and that the nearest injection wells were less than two miles away.

The agency instructed staff to prevent truckers from accessing those injection sites, telling operators to find others “until further notice.”

The wells continue to leak.

Laura Briggs, who also owns a ranch in Pecos County less than half a mile east of Schuyler Wight’s place, said she has seen five old wells start leaking water since 2015. The Railroad Commission plugged two of them, she said, but one began to leak through the seal again.

Briggs has repeatedly given testimony and submitted documentation to the Railroad Commission asking for help. Based on her experience, she believes the subterranean problems in West Texas are much more than what the Railroad Commission can handle.

“If I could do one thing differently, we would have gotten a mobile home so it was easier to get the hell out of here,” Briggs said. “If this [ranch] goes leaking, we just have to leave and nobody will buy the property, no insurance will cover it, you’re just done.”

Despite those problems, the Railroad Commission approved 400 new disposal wells in the Permian Basin alone in 2021, according to agency documents, and 480 in 2022.

Threats to groundwater

The use of injection wells for disposal has expanded immensely with the practice of fracking, according to Dominic DiGiulio, a geoscientist who worked for 30 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But DiGiulio said these wells are still regulated under rules from the 1970s and ’80s. Increasingly, he said, those rules appear insufficient.

“West Texas isn’t the only place where this is happening,” DiGiulio said. “Overpressurization of aquifers due to disposal of produced water is a problem.”

In 2022, DiGiulio conducted a review of Ohio’s wastewater injection program for the group Physicians, Scientists, and Engineers for Healthy Energy and found the same two problems there: Injected fluids were leaking from some formations meant to contain them, and excessive injections were causing other formations to become overpressurized.

There was one big difference with Texas. In November 2021, DiGiulio’s study said, Ohio had just 228 injection wells for wastewater disposal. Texas, meanwhile, had 13,585 in 2022, according to Railroad Commission documents.

The primary threat posed by produced water migrating from injection wells is groundwater contamination. If deep formations fail to contain the toxic waste injected into them, that waste could end up in shallow freshwater aquifers.

It could happen two ways, DiGiulio said. If the wastewater enters the inside of an old oil well through corroded holes in the casing, it can travel up the steel pipe to the surface, spilling and seeping into the ground. If the wastewater moves up the outside of an old oil well, through the cement that surrounds the steel pipe, it could already be flowing into the aquifer.

That would be bad news for West Texas, which depends almost entirely on groundwater for drinking and crop irrigation.

“Once groundwater contamination happens, it’s too expensive to remediate,” DiGiulio said. “So when it occurs, that’s basically it. You’ve ruined that resource.”

Disclosure: Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.


The full program is now LIVE for the 2024 Texas Tribune Festival, happening Sept. 5–7 in downtown Austin. Explore the program featuring more than 100 unforgettable conversations on topics covering education, the economy, Texas and national politics, criminal justice, the border, the 2024 elections and so much more. See the full program.

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More than 100 landfills in England may be leaching ‘highly hazardous’ waste

Inadequate record keeping means councils do not know whether former waste sites contain toxic substancesMore than 100 old landfills in England that may be contaminated with toxic substances have flooded since 2000, potentially posing a serious safety risk, it can be revealed.Some of these former dumps containing possibly hazardous materials sit directly next to public parks and housing estates with hundreds of households, the analysis by the Greenpeace-funded journalism website Unearthed , in partnership with the Guardian, found. Continue reading...

More than 100 old landfills in England that may be contaminated with toxic substances have flooded since 2000, potentially posing a serious safety risk, it can be revealed.Some of these former dumps containing possibly hazardous materials sit directly next to public parks and housing estates with hundreds of households, the analysis by the Greenpeace-funded journalism website Unearthed , in partnership with the Guardian, found.Although councils are supposed to keep track of the dangers of these sites, funding has long since disappeared and some local authorities had no idea they were responsible, the investigation found.David Megson, an environmental chemist from Manchester Metropolitan University, said most former landfill sites were “likely to be quite safe and contain relatively inert waste, but some could be quite sinister”.“Historic reporting of what went into these sites wasn’t great, so in many cases, you’ve got little idea what is in there until you dig into it,” he said.The investigation took data on the 20,000 former landfill sites in England to identify the most high-risk – those used to dump “special” or industrial waste, for example, which were used after 1945 and before the mid-1990s, when laws about keeping records on the contents of landfill sites came into place.This was then compared with Environment Agency flooding data, with help from Dr Paul Brindley, a mapping expert at the University of Sheffield, to find landfills where more than 50% of their surface area was flooded.Any dumps that only contained household waste, those known to be safe or where controls were already in place were removed from the data, leaving only those that may contain dangerous substances, including pharmaceuticals, “forever chemicals”, heavy metals or “liquid sludge” – which could be anything from sewage to cyanide waste.A total of 105 sites were identified, which were disproportionately situated in poorer areas and in the north of England.Prof Kate Spencer, a historic landfill expert from Queen Mary University of London, who helped with the investigation, said that in hundreds of years of dumping waste humans had “never really considered the consequences”.“We now know far more about the potentially harmful effects of the waste materials and pollutants we’ve dumped, particularly chemicals like Pfas and PCBs, and how the impacts of climate change, such as flooding, could reopen pathways for those pollutants to enter the environment.”The investigation also found that 2,600 former dump sites with potentially hazardous contents were within 50 metres of watercourses.Charles Watson, the chair and founder of campaign group River Action said: “Everywhere you look, polluters can find easily accessible loopholes in the enforcement regime to break the law and degrade the environment. However, the failure to provide adequate funding to regulate something as basic as landfill sites that could be leaching highly hazardous waste is all the more shocking.“If our regulators can’t sort out how to protect us from pollutants that in theory have already been ‘safely’ disposed of, then we have little hope of ever seeing a holistic approach to combating the wider sources of water pollution.”Until 2017, councils could apply for contaminated land capital grants, which were administered by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to remediate contaminated land. Since then, there has been an “erosion of funding”, said Dr Grant Richardson, an environmental consultant and expert on landfill and contaminated land.“If there’s no obvious risk of harm or pollution emanating from these sites, nothing will be done to investigate or remediate them unless sites come to be developed. That means there are likely hundreds or potentially thousands of sites that have not been properly investigated that could be leaching contaminants at harmful levels into the environment,” he said.The lack of funding in areas such as this could have “devastating consequences”, the Local Government Association warned, pointing to a wider funding gap for councils of up to £8bn by 2028-29. A spokesperson said local authorities “desperately need a significant and sustained increase” in budgets to keep up with demands placed on them.The Green peer Natalie Bennett, whose party supports a law requiring better records of sites so they are not a public danger, said: “The lack of adequate regulations on contaminated land poses a threat to human life and welfare, especially given climate breakdown, rising sea levels, increased rainfall and flooding.“Greens urge Labour to add this law to the statute books and provide the necessary funds for local authorities to meet the requirements of such a new law.”The Environment Agency said it would “continue to support” local authorities with their responsibility for dealing with former landfills. “In circumstances where the Environment Agency leads on remediation, we work tirelessly with partners to reduce unacceptable risks to human health and the environment,” it added.

Analysis-Textile Giant Bangladesh Pushed to Recycle More Waste

By Md. Tahmid ZamiNARAYANGANJ, Bangladesh (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Bangladesh's limited capacity to deal with the enormous waste generated by...

NARAYANGANJ, Bangladesh (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Bangladesh's limited capacity to deal with the enormous waste generated by its textile sector may prove unsustainable as the global fashion industry faces pressure to reduce its environmental footprint.Bangladesh, the world's second-largest apparel producer, only recycles a small percentage of its textile waste, with the rest shipped abroad or left to pollute the landscape.As more countries introduce rules requiring greater recycled content in clothes, analysts and business owners say Bangladesh must expand recycling to meet demand from a global textile recycling market projected to be worth $9.4 billion by 2027.The European Union this month published its first road map towards meeting the standards under its Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which includes provisions for reducing the environmental harm caused by the textile industry.This will require Bangladesh and other fashion suppliers to boost recycling while improving working conditions in what is largely an informal sector, said Patrick Schröder, a senior research fellow at the British think tank Chatham House."As the call for recycling grows and fast fashion goes out of fashion in the coming years, millions of jobs will be impacted, and Bangladesh needs to think ahead to step up its capacity to keep up with the changes," he said.Bangladesh's fashion industry is estimated to produce up to 577,000 metric tons of textile waste from the factories each year.Most of it is shipped abroad, and the rest is left to clog bodies of water, pollute the soil, enter landfills or be incinerated, which produces toxic gases, according to a report by Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains, a project supported by the EU and the Finnish government.What is processed has evolved into a vast, informal business in Bangladesh. Thousands of informal workshops sort and bundle the waste, known as jhut, and what remains in Bangladesh is down-cycled to make low-value products like mattresses, pillows and cushions.When clothing scraps are swept up from factory floors, politicians and other influential people control who gets it and at what price, said Asadun Noor, project coordinator at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation in Dhaka."This is a very opaque process, offering limited visibility of the waste value chain to clothing brands and suppliers," he said.The scraps go to hundreds of mostly unregistered workshops near the capital Dhaka, where they are cleaned and sorted into batches based on quality, colour and other considerations.Tens of thousands of workers, 70% of them women, sort the remnants for 10 to 12 hours a day, a study by the U.N.'s children agency UNICEF said last year.Workers said they toil for low wages without key safety measures, like drinking water, paid sick leave or protection from harassment.One of them is Sabura Begum, 30, who works with 250 other women at a workshop in the city of Narayanganj, near Dhaka."I earn a wage of about $80 a month and it does not make it easy to run my family," she said.A small share of the waste sorted in workshops like Begum's is sent to about two dozen recycling factories in Bangladesh.A large portion is exported to other countries such as India or Finland for recycling into new fibre where this is a larger base of recycling facilities as well as advanced technology like chemical recycling that produces strong, fresh fibres.Some of the fibres made from exported scraps are then sent back to Bangladesh to be made into clothes.More local recycling could save Bangladesh about $700 million a year in imports, the Switch to Circular Economy Value Chains report estimated.Other major textile hubs are ramping up recycling capacity. For example, India recycles or reuses about 4.7 million tons, or about 60%, of its textile waste, according to a report by Fashion for Good, a coalition of businesses and non-profits.Some Bangladeshi companies are aiming to compete and provide proper labour standards.In 2017, Entrepreneur Abdur Razzaque set up Recycle Raw, which has now become one of the largest waste-processing businesses in Bangladesh."We offer decent wages and respect basic labour standards - ensuring things like drinking water, air circulation and security for our largely female workforce - so we attract and retain them much better than others," Razzaque said.A few local recycling factories are also investing in adding more production lines, but large-scale investment in technology like chemical recycling, with support from fashion brands and development-finance organisations is needed, said Abdullah Rafi, CEO of recycler Broadway Regenerated Fiber, based in the city of Ashulia, near Dhaka.However, investors expect a regular supply of waste feed stock and that means the current opaque system of handling waste would have to go, he said."What we now need is more finance and collaboration among brands, suppliers, waste handlers and recyclers to scale up our capacity," said Rafi.(Reporting by Md. Tahmid Zami; Editing by Jack Graham and Jon Hemming. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters. Visit https://www.context.news/)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

Bill would stop Texas oil drillers from secretly burying toxic waste on private property

House Bill 4572 would introduce new requirements for pits where drillers bury oil and gas waste.

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. This story is published in partnership with Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here. A bill in the Texas Legislature would require oil and gas drillers to notify landowners before burying toxic waste on their property. In addition, House Bill 4572 would strengthen other regulations for reserve pits, where oil and gas companies permanently bury waste next to drilling sites. The Texas House Energy Resources Committee heard testimony on the bill Monday. The bill builds on rulemaking the Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates the oil and gas industry, completed late last year to update the state’s oilfield waste regulations. State Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, who filed the bill, said it would introduce “safeguards” for the state’s groundwater and property owners. Landowners, advocates and an oilfield waste professional spoke in favor of the bill this week at the Capitol. A representative of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association spoke in opposition to the bill. “Ranch owners can pour their life savings into their dream homestead, only later to find out that they bought a toxic waste reserve,” said Morales Shaw, a Democrat who represents parts of Houston and northern Harris County. “This bill will afford landowners the opportunity to make an informed decision and to know when their interests are at risk.” The waste streams from the oil and gas industry have evolved since the widespread adoption of fracking. Oil-based muds and lubricants are now used to frack wells. Waste from wells can be laced with carcinogens including benzene and arsenic. The bill is now pending in the Energy Resources Committee and faces several hurdles to passage by the full House, if it is voted out of committee. A companion bill, Senate Bill 3017, was introduced by state Sen. José Menéndez, a Democrat from San Antonio. The Senate bill has not yet received a hearing. The clock is ticking to June 2, the last day of the Texas legislative session. Morales Shaw said she has spoken with all the committee members about the importance of the bill and the “compelling testimony from lifelong industry members.” Bill seeks “balanced” approach to waste pits HB 4572 proposes new regulations for reserve pits, also referred to as Schedule A pits by the Railroad Commission. These earthen disposal pits are dug next to drilling rigs and are filled with oily waste, including mud and cuttings from the well. The pit is left open while the well is drilled. The waste is permanently buried underground once the well is complete. The bill would require the Railroad Commission to adopt standards for where reserve pits can be located and establish bonding and groundwater monitoring rules. The bill would also require standards for “providing notice to and receiving permission from” a landowner to permanently bury waste. Morales Shaw told the committee the bill “empowers landowners with the information and consent they deserve before toxic waste is buried beneath their property.” She referenced hundreds of violations of water protection rules the Railroad Commission has issued at waste pits. She also circulated photos of pollution caused by reserve pits and cows wading through drilling mud in a pit. State Rep. R.D. “Bobby” Guerra, a Democrat from McAllen, called the images “appalling.” “I have a ranch,” he said. “And I would be, excuse the expression, pissed off if I saw this kind of stuff going on on my place.” “It’s full of chemicals and lubricants and fluids and different emulsifiers and whatnot,” said state Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Democrat from northern Harris County. “It’s poison, it smells bad and it’s probably not good for cows.” Texas revamped its oilfield waste rules last year for the first time since the 1980s. The updated rule on reserve pits, which goes into effect July 1, will require companies to register the location of these pits for the first time. The updated rule only requires reserve pits to be lined when groundwater is within 50 feet of the bottom of the pit. There is no groundwater monitoring required. Hundreds of people submitted public comments about reserve pits during the rule-making, many of them asking the Railroad Commission to require landowner notification. However, the Railroad Commission did not include a landowner notification requirement in the final rule. At the time, Commissioner Jim Wright’s spokesperson told Inside Climate News that it would be “up to the Texas Legislature” to determine how and whether landowners should be notified of pits on their property. Wright’s staff did not immediately comment on HB 4572. Morales Shaw said the existing rule does not go far enough. “It has been 40 years since these waste pits have been permitted, and they are just now trying to figure out where they all are,” she said. “The Railroad Commission’s rules do not take meaningful and necessary steps to protect land, water supply, and livelihoods of landowners.” Landowners speak in support Public comments, both delivered in person and submitted in writing, largely supported the bill. Comal County landowner Mark Friesenhahn, who spent his career in the oil and gas industry, said over time reserve pits have become larger and more toxic chemicals and additives have been used in drilling muds. Friesenhahn, who spoke in favor of the bill, said existing practices are “no longer practical given the toxicity and contamination concerns.” Laura Briggs, whose family ranch is in Pecos County in the Permian Basin, submitted written comments. She wrote that where waste pits have been dug on their property, “the land is dead ground that caves in, and belches half-buried black plastic.” “Landowner consent does not have to be burdensome to be effective,” she wrote. Commission Shift Action, the advocacy partner of the nonprofit organization Commission Shift, is also in support of the bill. Policy manager Julie Range said in an interview that expecting companies to be good stewards isn’t enough. “If we want best practices to be followed we should put them into our statutes,” she said. The sole public comment in opposition to the bill was registered by Michael Lozano on behalf of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association. Referencing the recent rulemaking at the Railroad Commission, he recommended lawmakers wait for the updated rule to be rolled out July 1 before passing legislation regarding waste pits. “What we’d like to see is how these new environmental protections … interact and engage with this,” he said. Lozano said the cases pointed out during the hearing were examples of companies breaking the existing rules. “Clearly there are problems that are happening,” he said. “I don’t think they’re indicative of every circumstance of these pits being built.” The committee adjourned without voting on the bill. Disclosure: The Permian Basin Petroleum Association has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Tickets are on sale now for the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas’ breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Get tickets before May 1 and save big! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.

That Blue Origin flight was a success but isn't landing well among some stars: 'Disgusted'

Olivia Wilde and Emily Ratajkowski are among those slamming Blue Origin for its totally necessary 11-minute flight Monday, which had an all-female celebrity crew.

Earth to Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin: This week’s fleeting space launch featuring an all-female crew was a wasteful, performative and tone-deaf endeavor reminiscent of the “Hunger Games” dystopia — according to author, model and actor Emily Ratajkowski. The outspoken “My Body” writer did not mince words Tuesday as she continued to criticize Monday’s Blue Origin flight that launched six women including Katy Perry, Gayle King and Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez into space. The endeavor, which had been heavily hyped and promoted for more than a month, lasted only 11 minutes from takeoff to landing. (Previous Blue Origin flights, including the 2021 launch with “Star Trek” icon William Shatner, were equally as brief.)Ratajkowski dissected the New Shepard rocket mission in a TikTok video posted Tuesday morning, claiming that the women-led initiative was not as progressive as it seemed. While Monday’s celebrity launch was the nation’s first spaceflight where women filled each seat and “optically looks like progress,” Ratajkowski alleged, the “truth” was that Amazon executive Bezos just wanted to “take his fiancée and a few other famous women to space for space tourism.”“It just speaks to the fact that we are absolutely living in an oligarchy where there is a small group of people who are interested in going to space for the sake of getting a new lease on life while the rest of the population, most people on planet Earth, are worried about paying rent or having dinner for their kids,” she said. She added elsewhere in her video: “Being able to take the privilege that you have gained from exploitation and greed of the planet, of resources of human beings, and doing something like going to space for 11 minutes is not an accomplishment.”Tuesday’s video was the second Ratajkowski shared reacting to Monday’s launch. In a clip posted shortly after the Blue Origin crew returned to Earth, Ratajkowski said the space trip resembled “end times s—” and was “beyond parody.” She also called out the discrepancies between the environmental messaging surrounding the flight and the resources expended to send the women to space. “I’m disgusted,” she said. Blue Origin, founded in 2000 by Bezos, declined Monday to say how much the flight, a quick up-and-down trip from west Texas, cost or who paid for what. The launch precedes Sanchez and Bezos’ Venice, Italy, wedding in two months. Ratajkowski hasn’t been the only star to express disdain for the Blue Origin flight on social media. “Don’t Worry Darling” director-actor Olivia Wilde in a since-expired Instagram story reacted to the flurry of jokes inspired by the launch. “Billion dollars bought some good memes I guess,” she said sarcastically. Comedian Amy Schumer also poked fun at the flight Monday, joking she was a last-minute addition to the eclectic female crew. “I’m going to space and thank you to everyone who got me here and I’ll see you in space,” she said in an intentionally vapid-sounding voice, repeating the word “space” numerous times. Even before Blue Origin’s New Shepard lifted off with film producer Kerianne Flynn, scientist Amanda Nguyen, former NASA engineer Aisha Bowe and the others in tow, “Your Friends and Neighbors” star Olivia Munn dubbed the spaceflight a “gluttonous” stunt. During her April 3 guest spot on “Today With Jenna and Friends,” Munn questioned the purpose of the trip amid more pressing societal and political issues. “It’s so much money to go to space and there’s a lot of people who can’t even afford eggs,” she said before further scrutinizing media coverage of the endeavor.After returning from space, “CBS Mornings” co-host King told People on Monday that critics “don’t really understand what is happening here” and said she and her fellow passengers have heard “from young women, from young girls about what this represents.”Sanchez took another approach to the criticism, telling the outlet she invites skeptics to “come to Blue Origin and see the thousands of employees” that she said have devoted themselves to the New Shepard and the mission. The author and journalist, engaged to billionaire Bezos for nearly two years, added: “When we hear comments like that, I just say, ‘Trust me. Come with me. I’ll show you what this is about, and it’s, it’s really eye-opening.’”The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ditch the balloons and swap the plastic toys for cake: how to have a waste-free birthday party

Low waste doesn’t have to mean no fun – with a little creativity you can celebrate an occasion without hurting the planet Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprintGot a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.comWhen planning a big bash to celebrate my 40th last year, I wanted a stylish and memorable celebration that didn’t cost the earth.Between food waste, plastic packaging, single-use decorations and fast fashion, the environmental footprint of festivities can quickly add up. Thankfully though, low waste doesn’t have to mean no fun. Continue reading...

When planning a big bash to celebrate my 40th last year, I wanted a stylish and memorable celebration that didn’t cost the earth.Between food waste, plastic packaging, single-use decorations and fast fashion, the environmental footprint of festivities can quickly add up. Thankfully though, low waste doesn’t have to mean no fun.With a little creativity, out-of-the-box thinking and some help from my community, I was able to throw an entertaining and colourful back yard garden party that produced little waste – and was more affordable to boot. Here are some ideas to help you plan a low-impact party.Reduce food waste and packagingDisposable plates, cups and cutlery are among the most wasteful aspects of parties – they’re single-use, wrapped in plastic and usually get dumped in the rubbish. Over-catering food is also costly to both the environment and your hip pocket. I sidestepped all that by hosting a pot-luck dinner – where each guest brought a plate of food to share – served using metal cutlery and compostable plates.Disposable plates are among the most wasteful aspects of parties. Photograph: Penpak Ngamsathain/Getty ImagesAnother option, says zero-waste author Erin Rhoads, is the national Party Kit Network. Community members offer reusable tableware, decorations and even party games to borrow, use and return locally. Some party kits are free, while schools and childcare centres may charge a small hire fee for fundraising. “As a parent, planning a party for your child can be really stressful,” Rhoads says. “With the kit, everyone gets to see how easily reusables can be integrated into a celebration.”By hosting my 40th at my place, I could better control sustainable decisions around waste, decorations and food. For example, I placed recycling and compost bins in a prominent location with clear labelling, with the landfill bin further away. If you’re partying in a park or at a venue, consider bringing a compost bin to collect food waste.Reuse, borrow and rentConsider how you might source your get-together’s needs without purchasing new. I began by repurposing items I already had. I gathered couches and comfy chairs from around my house and set them up in the garden – after the party, they simply went back inside. In the weeks leading up to the event, I kept an eye on roadside rubbish and scored a free rug and a couple of extra chairs. Instead of buying new glassware, I used old jars.There’s no point giving a kid an eco-friendly gift they’ll never useWhen I needed extra items, I turned to my community and borrowed fairy lights, a fire pit, small coffee tables and extra seating. Buy Nothing groups are an excellent resource for free sharing and loaning in your neighbourhood. If you do need to buy, try second-hand first. I thrifted a drinks dispenser online – for one-third of the usual retail price – and sourced my entire 1920s-themed outfit, from headpiece to dress and shoes, at op shops.Skip presents or try a ‘fiver birthday’At this stage in my life, I have most things I need – and I’m fussy about what I want in my home. To avoid unwanted gifts, I simply asked for none. Alternatively, you could request experiences, consumable treats such as foods and drinks, and even second-hand gifts from thrift shops, eBay or Facebook Marketplace, helping normalise sustainable giving while reducing costs for your guests.Rhoads says a “fiver birthday” is a great option for children’s parties – and helps take the pressure off parents. Each guest contributes just $5 so the birthday child can buy themselves a larger gift afterwards. Handmade cards add a personal touch. Or just ask if there’s anything specific the child needs or wants. “There’s no point giving a kid an eco-friendly gift they’ll never use,” Rhoads says.Try newspaper, decorated with ribbons saved from previous presents. Photograph: Amanda Vivan/Getty ImagesAvoid disposable wrapping paper, which mostly can’t be recycled due to metallic dyes, plastic coating and stray plastic sticky tape. Instead, try newspaper or second-hand options such as old sheet music, fabric, scarves or tea towels, decorated with ribbons saved from previous presents. Ensure you choose biodegradable tape, too.Choose low-impact decorations and party bagsIf you make just one change at your next party – ban the balloons. Balloon pollution is a major threat to marine life including seabirds and turtles, which can die after mistaking balloons for food. Instead, consider homemade options made from compostable materials, such as wool, cotton, wood, paper and even plants and flowers from the garden or neighbourhood. Fabric bunting and paper garlands can be folded up and reused again for future parties.For the time-poor or craft-averse, explore Facebook Marketplace or local hire services. Or skip the decorations entirely. I allowed my garden and borrowed fairy lights to provide a natural background to my 40th festivities, combined with a broad ‘any-era’ vintage dress-up theme that made it easier for guests to shop their wardrobe for a costume rather than buying fast fashion.To make kids’ party bags more sustainable, avoid plastic-wrapped lollies or cheap plastic toys that break easily. Homemade play-dough in reusable jars or seed balls made from coconut coir, clay and flower seeds offer a fun, nature-friendly option. Or, Rhoads says, simply send guests home with a slice of birthday cake in a paper bag.“Showing these swaps aren’t that daunting and that events can still be joyful – and perhaps save money as a bonus – is a fun way to get people to rethink living sustainability without the lectures and statistics, which can scare them into inaction,” she says. “It helps shift habits and behaviours in the long term.”

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