Texas’ environmental agency enables companies to increase oilfield wastewater disposal in rivers

Fracking's water demand requires the construction of ponds like these, which store millions of gallons of fresh water. (Credit: Tamir Kalifa for The Texas Tribune)

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When a team of researchers at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi combed through Railroad Commission records several years ago, they found more than 50 permits allowing conventional oil and gas drillers to discharge oil field wastewater, known as produced water, into creeks and streams near the Eagle Ford shale basin in South Texas.