Poisoning the Well: How the Feds Let Industry Pollute the Nation's Underground Water Supply
Even as water grows more precious, the Environmental Protection Agency has permitted oil and gas, mining and other industries to contaminate aquifers in more than 1,500 places, many of them in Western states stricken by drought. More »
The Trillion-Gallon Loophole: Lax Rules for Drillers that Inject Pollutants Into the Earth
As the boom in oil and gas drilling sends a surge of waste into underground injection wells, safeguards for disposing of these materials are sometimes being ignored or circumvented. More »
Injection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us
Lax oversight, uncertain science plague program under which industries dump trillions of gallons of waste underground. More »
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updates since last visitReport Criticizes EPA Oversight of Injection Wells
The Government Accountability Office says environmental regulators are failing to adequately enforce rules for wells used to dispose of toxic waste from drilling.
After a Powerful Lobbyist Intervenes, EPA Reverses Stance on Polluting Texas County’s Water
The EPA changed its stance on an aquifer exemption needed for a uranium mining project in Goliad County, Texas, after prominent Democratic lobbyist Heather Podesta made entreaties to one of its top administrators
Update: State Oil and Gas Regulators Still Spread Thin
ProPublica updates its database of regulatory oversight in oil and gas producing states, adding data on agency budgets and wells used to inject waste.
Updated: State Gas Drilling Regulatory Staff Tracker
How big is the natural gas drilling regulatory staff in your state?
Message from Mexico: U.S. Is Polluting Water It May Someday Need to Drink
Mexico City is planning to draw drinking water from a mile-deep aquifer, challenging U.S. policy that water far underground can be intentionally polluted because it will never be used.
On a Wyoming Ranch, Feds Sacrifice Tomorrow’s Water to Mine Uranium Today
A battle over uranium mining at Christensen Ranch, a remote 35,000-acre tract in Wyoming, could shape decisions nationwide as mining surges in drought-stricken areas.
Poisoning the Well: How the Feds Let Industry Pollute the Nation’s Underground Water Supply
Even as water grows more precious, the Environmental Protection Agency has permitted oil and gas, mining and other industries to contaminate aquifers in more than 1,500 places, many of them in Western states stricken by drought.
The Trillion-Gallon Loophole: Lax Rules for Drillers that Inject Pollutants Into the Earth
As the boom in oil and gas drilling sends a surge of waste into underground injection wells, safeguards for disposing of these materials are sometimes being ignored or circumvented.
State-by-State: Underground Injection Wells
Through the Freedom of Information Act, ProPublica collected annual state regulatory summaries for the underground injection of waste that were submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency between late 2007 and late 2010.
Polluted Water Fuels a Battle for Answers
For most of the last decade, Rev. David Hudson has pressed regulators to find out whether his town’s water contamination is related to injection wells. He’s still waiting.
An Unseen Leak, Then Boom
Gas seeps from underground injection wells and triggers explosions in a Kansas town.
Whiff of Phenol Spells Trouble
A landmark case in Ohio topples scientific assumptions as wells guaranteed to entrap waste for at least 10,000 years spring a leak in less than 25.
Injection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us
Lax oversight, uncertain science plague program under which industries dump trillions of gallons of waste underground
