Toxic wastewater from oil fields keeps pouring out of the ground across Oklahoma. It has bubbled up near homes and a school — and it has killed farmers’ crops and ranchers’ calves.
These incidents, sometimes called “purges,” have also contaminated the private water wells of people in rural areas.
Over the years, some Oklahoma residents have made complaints. But they haven’t always found an easy solution.
A rancher in northeastern Oklahoma told us he’s complained for years about wells leaking oil. The state plugged one well, which he said shot salt water and oil 40 feet in the air, but left others. In the southwestern part of the state, a couple found their drinking water had high levels of salt and benzene, a carcinogen. They sued an oil company, but their case is on hold.
As we continue our reporting on this issue, we need your help to understand how it’s affecting your community. Have you noticed purges or polluted water supplies in your area? Tried to address them? Do you have other information about oil and gas in Oklahoma that you’d like to share? Take a few minutes to fill out our form below.
We appreciate you sharing your story, and we take your privacy seriously. We are gathering these stories for the purposes of our reporting and will contact you if we wish to publish any part of your story.
If you’d prefer to reach out on Signal, you can reach Nick at NickBowlin.24. (You can find more information about the messaging app Signal, which offers end-to-end encryption, on its website.)
The post Help Us Report on the Impact of Oil Field Waste in Oklahoma appeared first on ProPublica.
This content originally appeared on ProPublica and was authored by Peter.DiCampo@propublica.org.
Peter.DiCampo@propublica.org | Radio Free (2025-10-29T09:25:00+00:00) Help Us Report on the Impact of Oil Field Waste in Oklahoma. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2025/10/29/help-us-report-on-the-impact-of-oil-field-waste-in-oklahoma/
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