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Texas Companies Eye Pecos River Watershed for Oilfield Wastewater

Inside Climate News · By Martha Pskowski, Dylan Baddour · last updated
Texas regulators are issuing permits to discharge treated produced water. But questions remain about toxic pollutants in the wastewater.

By Martha Pskowski, Dylan Baddour

These days the Pecos River barely fills its dry, sandy bed where it crosses West Texas, but the river could be poised to flow again — with treated oilfield wastewater. 

Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: petroleum

State of Play

While electric-powered vehicles may be the ride of the future, oil remains at least for now the dominant fuel for transportation around the world. And after a period of time at the end of the 20th century when oil was subject to wide fluctuations in price, new supplies in North America as a result of non-conventional recovery techniques have helped stabilize prices.

More informationabout ENERGY BASICS: petroleum