{"id":35580,"date":"2014-04-01T06:30:22","date_gmt":"2014-04-01T11:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=35580"},"modified":"2014-04-16T13:59:25","modified_gmt":"2014-04-16T18:59:25","slug":"are-drilling-waste-pits-threat-to-texas-groundwater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2014\/04\/01\/are-drilling-waste-pits-threat-to-texas-groundwater\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Drilling Waste Pits a Threat to Texas Groundwater?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Drilling

Dave Fehling \/ StateImpact Texas<\/p>

Drilling for oil & gas can generate thousands of barrels of waste per well<\/p><\/div>\n

In one of the hottest plays for natural gas drilling, Bob Patterson wonders if what the drilling industry leaves behind will come back to haunt the community.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s just a ticking time bomb before we have major aquifer contamination,” Patterson told StateImpact.<\/p>\n

Patterson manages the Upper Trinity Groundwater Conservation District<\/a>. His office monitors the drilling industry in North Texas, home to the Barnett Shale,<\/a> which is producing some of the greatest volumes of natural gas in the country.<\/p>\n

Reserve Pits<\/h4>\n

Patterson’s fear is about what are called reserve pits. The earthen pits are dug on the site of a drilling rig. Into the pits go thousands of barrels-worth of drilling waste. The waste comes back up out of the well as the drill cuts thousand of feet down into the earth. The waste can be a muddy, oily mix of saltwater, sand, and drilling fluids and can contain chemicals and diesel fuel.<\/p>\n