As black water erupts from old oil well, rancher fears more are coming

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Foul black water has been found gushing from a well in northern Pecos County in West Texas, not far from an earlier well that had been spewing toxic water for weeks and prompted the establishment of a no-fly zone. This latest issue is just one in a series of troubling incidents under the aging oil fields north of Fort Stockton, where pressurized water carrying harmful elements can travel underground and reach the surface through abandoned wells.

Officials from the Texas Railroad Commission are working to address the situation by containing and removing the fluids from the affected well in Pecos County. With an increasing number of orphaned oil and gas wells across the state, the commission is facing challenges in plugging these neglected wells in a timely manner, despite their efforts to address the growing list of abandoned wells.