{"id":341283,"date":"2026-06-18T12:40:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/341283\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T12:40:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T12:40:28","slug":"an-old-well-next-to-a-texas-church-spewed-toxic-wastewater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/341283\/","title":{"rendered":"An old well next to a Texas church spewed toxic wastewater"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story is published in partnership with Inside Climate News<\/a>, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for the ICN newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n

GRANDFALLS \u2014 An old oil well sprang back to life under the parking lot of the First Baptist Church of Grandfalls in April.<\/p>\n

Over the next eight days, more than 1.5 million gallons of toxic wastewater flowed out of the earth, according to state records. The state regulator, the Railroad Commission, spent $1.49 million plugging the leak and another $1.16 million disposing of the wastewater back underground. By early June, crews had stopped the flow and plugged the wellbore.<\/p>\n

Wastewater, fortunately, did not enter the church. The imminent threat passed. But questions linger for the church\u2019s pastor and Permian Basin residents. Why do old wells in the area keep blowing out? What will happen if the next leak isn\u2019t under a parking lot, but a house or school?<\/p>\n

The Permian Basin\u2019s oil and gas wells generate prodigious quantities of wastewater, known as produced water. This salty, toxic liquid is pumped underground into injection wells, increasing underground pressure. This pressure is finding its way to the surface through old wells that burst and spew wastewater aboveground.<\/p>\n

The Railroad Commission requested injection wells within a five-mile radius of Grandfalls to stop pumping waste underground while the leak was being plugged. Agency spokesperson Bryce Dubee said that the old well underneath the parking lot is still under investigation.<\/p>\n

When David Tucker stepped in as the interim pastor at First Baptist last summer, his biggest concern was replacing an aging air conditioning unit. But once the leak sprang, Tucker, an oil and gas industry veteran, was uniquely qualified to help. He hopes the incident can lead to change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was kind of a good thing because it brought attention to what\u2019s happening,\u201d he said, referring to the spate of oilfield leaks and geysers in the Permian Basin.<\/p>\n

A drone video shows Railroad Commission workers at the site of the leak on April 22. The salty residue of the spill is visible on the parking lot pavement. Courtesy of Sarah Stogner<\/p>\n

Tucker praised the Railroad Commission\u2019s quick response but said the agency needs more resources to address the problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re trying to do a good job. But they don\u2019t have the money to do it. They\u2019re overwhelmed,\u201d he said. \u201cThe state needs to turn loose some more money to start funding this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dubee, the RRC spokesperson, said the agency\u2019s State Managed Plugging program \u201cremains focused on addressing the well in Grandfalls.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing something subsurface\u201d<\/p>\n

Injection wells are designed to seal wastewater permanently underground. But a few years ago, wastewater started blasting out at the surface, causing geysers, leaks and sinkholes.<\/p>\n

Tucker, the pastor, is no stranger to the problem. On his own property outside Grandfalls, he has called the Railroad Commission for help when old wells started leaking. Ranches near Grandfalls in Crane, Pecos and Ward counties have been hot spots for surface leaks, including a towering geyser<\/a> in 2022 and a blowout<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing something subsurface, and I think everybody knows it,\u201d Tucker said. \u201cWe\u2019ve turned a lot of the shale play into just one big crack. Everything\u2019s communicating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PastorPastor David Tucker stands outside the First Baptist Church of Grandfalls. Tucker stepped in as pastor at the church last summer in addition to his full-time job in the oil and gas industry. Martha Pskowski\/Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

Unlike previous incidents, the leak that sprang on April 21 was smack-dab in the middle of town. The First Baptist Church, built in 1955, is on Grandfall\u2019s main thoroughfare, Avenue D. It\u2019s down the block from the town\u2019s sole gas station and across the street from a K-12 school. The gusher in Grandfalls is the most significant oilfield wastewater incident to date within a populated area in Texas. <\/p>\n

According to census data, 375 people live in Grandfalls. More than 20% of residents live below the poverty line and nearly half the population is Hispanic.<\/p>\n

Inside Climate News obtained records from the Railroad Commission that document the agency\u2019s response. Water testing results from a Midland lab showed the wastewater was loaded with chloride, sulfate and had total dissolved solids of 138,771 parts per million, or four times saltier than seawater. These results are consistent with produced water.<\/p>\n

\"WaterWater pools at the First Baptist Church of Grandfalls on April 21 while a Railroad Commission staff member looks on. Courtesy of Schuyler Wight<\/p>\n

Railroad Commission daily reports detailed how vacuum trucks slurped up the wastewater pouring out of the ground. From the night of April 21 into the next morning, 2,280 barrels, or 95,760 gallons, of wastewater were hauled away. In a 24-hour period between April 22 and 23, 6,600 barrels, or 277,200 gallons, were trucked offsite. <\/p>\n

In a 24-hour period between April 25 and 26, over 10,000 barrels of wastewater, or 42,000 gallons, were taken offsite.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are seeing a 7 [barrel] per minute release from the leak site,\u201d a Railroad Commission employee noted in the daily report. By then, 21 vacuum trucks were rotating through the site to keep up with the deluge. <\/p>\n

Oil was also leaking from the ground, according to the documents.<\/p>\n

Contractors rushed to find the source of the leak. By April 29, crews were finally able to find a wellbore and fill it with concrete to stop the flow.<\/p>\n

The well\u2019s location is marked on Railroad Commission maps, but the agency has not been able to identify when it was drilled. Numerous oil wells were drilled in Grandfalls in the 1930s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe RRC has located historic well records for wells in the area and while we have not yet been able to positively identify the well in question, we continue to investigate potential sources,\u201d the agency spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Hawk Dunlap, a well control specialist who has previously run for a seat on the Railroad Commission, was encouraged to hear the agency suspended injection in the area. He said that Permian Basin residents like him often have to \u201cread between the lines\u201d to understand how the agency responds to emergencies.<\/p>\n

But he noted the irony of the wastewater being trucked to injection wells and pumped back underground. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re taking it out of one and putting it in another,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should at least know that these wells exist\u201d<\/p>\n

State Rep. Brooks Landgraf<\/a>, a Republican from Odessa, visited the First Baptist Church on April 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis particular situation is under control, with no apparent threats to public safety,\u201d he wrote on Facebook<\/a>. \u201cObviously, a well that was plugged in the 1930s causing a leak in town is a reason to be concerned, and I\u2019m in discussion with folks who have the scientific background to help better address situations like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Landgraf has advocated for Texas to issue permits to use treated produced water outside the oilfield to reduce the volumes injected underground. On April 29, he posted<\/a> about meeting with Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) officials to discuss the agency\u2019s permitting process for spreading treated produced water on land<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery gallon of produced water that they permit for safe land application is one fewer gallon that is injected into the ground in and around the Permian Basin,\u201d he wrote. \u201cTCEQ was very receptive, and I\u2019m confident they are moving forward as quickly as they can.\u201d <\/p>\n

Landgraf did not respond to questions from Inside Climate News.<\/p>\n

Commission Shift, a nonprofit focused on improving oil and gas oversight in Texas, has urged regulators to proceed with caution when permitting uses of produced water outside the oil industry. The organization said incidents like the leak in Grandfalls show that injection should be restricted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time to stop injecting in areas that are overpressurized, where we keep seeing these problems,\u201d said Julie Range, Commission Shift policy manager. \u201cThe combination of overpressurized fluids and unplugged conduits is creating these very expensive messes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The organization is circulating a petition urging TCEQ to strengthen the proposed rule on spreading produced water<\/a> on land, which is currently under review, because of concerns about potential groundwater contamination and toxic exposure.<\/p>\n

The Grandfalls gusher confirmed surveyor Jackie Portsmouth\u2019s fears that old wells could be compromised and cause property damage. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Grandfalls water tower, which supplies the town\u2019s roughly 375 residents . Martha Pskowski\/Inside Climate News<\/p>\n

Portsmouth, who works with the firm G-Forensic, said that Railroad Commission records are often incomplete, especially for wells that were drilled before the modern record-keeping era or the advent of detailed topographic maps. <\/p>\n

He hopes to raise awareness of the risks posed by old oil wells beneath houses and other structures. He spent months researching the legacy of oil wells under Midland neighborhoods. He found that plugged oil wells sit under the foundation of houses, unbeknownst to the homeowners.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not trying to scare anybody,\u201d he said. \u201cBut they should at least know that these wells exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Oklahoma, ProPublica reported on a leak<\/a> under a family\u2019s home that apparently came from an old well. The displaced family is still seeking answers.<\/p>\n

Tucker, the pastor, said he has fielded calls from Permian Basin residents who, for the first time, are looking up the locations of old wells around their homes. He is grateful that no one was injured in the leak and optimistic that it will raise awareness.<\/p>\n

The extremely salty water from the leak killed several trees on the church property. In the rush to contain the flow, crews also inadvertently cut the church\u2019s sewer line. Tucker said that insurance for an old, rural church like First Baptist is \u201cpractically nonexistent\u201d and that he does not expect insurance to cover the damages. <\/p>\n

For now, First Baptist is meeting in the Union Church across the street. Tucker hopes the congregation is back in their own sanctuary by the end of the summer. He is counting on the Railroad Commission to repair the parking lot and help with reconnecting the church sewer line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping the commission uses that to show the people, \u2018Yep, this is a little, bitty congregation in a little, bitty town, but we helped out,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Disclosure: Facebook has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune\u2019s journalism. Find a complete\u00a0list of them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is published in partnership with Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":341284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[121307,6084,6085,27,29,28,8124,6748],"class_list":["post-341283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-grandfalls","tag-oil-and-natural-gas","tag-permian-basin","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-railroad-commission","tag-well-b-homepage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/341284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}