Texas oil field the size of Florida could devastate USA with 'toxic radioactive brine'
One of the highest-producing oil fields in the US could be putting the country at major risk.
The Permian Basin, located across West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, is some 250 miles wide and around 300 miles long.
The world's largest and most prolific fracking basin, it contains layers of shale, sandstone, carbonate rock, and old oil and gas reservoirs.
It was forecast to make $350 billion in gross product and provide around 1.2 million jobs for the US economy by 2050, according to the 2024 Economic Report from the Permian Strategic Partnership.
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But for every barrel of crude oil it produces, there is up to five barrels of toxic wastewater which is disposed of by being injected underground.
It works out as roughly 16 million barrels a day, Bloomberg reports, but that amount is forecast to rise even further, by around 39 percent by 2035.
The injection of toxic brine water deep underground has already had some pretty terrifying environmental impacts.
These include three earthquakes between 5.0 and 5.4 magnitude between 2020 and 2023 in the Permian region.
Shallower injections were also tried in a bid to avoid triggering seismic activity, but they pose yet another problem.
They cause toxic water blowouts - like geysers - pushing the salty, toxic waters 100 feet into the air from old wells, dubbed zombie wells.
It can also cause ground deformation.
The saltwater is dangerous because it contains extreme salinity, toxic heavy metals, cancer-causing chemicals and radioactive elements like radium.
In June this year, the Railroad Commission - which regulates the oil and gas industry - tightened shallow-well permits and acknowledged reservoir limits and risks to oil output and freshwater.
But just what other dangers can this brine water pose?
Well, there's concern over contaminated groundwater affecting hundreds of towns and rural communities - and the residents' health.
People could lose access to safe drinking water and wells would become unusable.
Chronic ingestion of low-level radionuclides - especially radium - is linked to bone cancer, leukemia, and other cancers.
And workers exposed to the wastewater are also at higher risk of developing cancers - like bone, leukemia, lung cancer - as well as kidney disease, while unborn babies could be at a higher risk of congenital issues.
There there's also other environmental damage; rivers, creeks, and fields would risk carrying radioactive and toxic wastes, harming ecosystems, wildlife, crops and ranches, potentially affecting livestock, too.
Topics: Science, US News, Nature, Environment, Health
Ellie Kemp