A cloud of dust obscures Jarod and Tanja Pachner. The couple's efforts to sell their Ellis County home were derailed by dust, noise and truck traffic from oil and gas drilling on neighboring land.

Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma

Setbacks in Oklahoma’s Oil and Gas Country, and a Family Left in the Dust

  • Joe Wertz

Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma

A cloud of dust obscures Jarod and Tanja Pachner. The couple's efforts to sell their Ellis County home were derailed by dust, noise and truck traffic from oil and gas drilling on neighboring land.

A surge in domestic drilling for oil and natural gas has left states wrestling over laws and rules governing how individuals and industry can live and work near each other. In Oklahoma, big-energy is generally considered a good neighbor. But drilling doesn’t benefit everyone.