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The Texas Tribune
The Texas Tribune
National
Dylan Baddour, Inside Climate News

In East Texas, a town fights to keep an oilfield waste dump from opening near wetlands and water wells

Janet Ritter, a local cattle ranch owner, points to the planned dump site illustrated in McBride's permit application on Jan. 19, 2023.
Janet Ritter, a local cattle rancher, points to the planned dump site illustrated in McBride Operating LLC's permit application on Jan. 19. (Credit: Dylan Baddour/Inside Climate News)

PAXTON — Deep in the Piney Woods of East Texas, a landfill developer wants to build an oil sector dump site some 500 yards from this small town’s wells.

In Paxton, water lies just a few feet below ground. Ponds and wetlands dot the boggy forests. The town, population 850, has plenty to drink. But residents fear it could all be at stake with Texas regulators poised to permit plans to permanently bury hundreds of millions of tons of oilfield waste here.

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