‘Trillion-dollar time bomb’ highlights oilfield wastewater concerns

A recent ProPublica podcast titled “The Trillion Dollar Time Bomb” is drawing attention to growing concerns over oilfield wastewater disposal and injection well practices.

The April 28 podcast, “Inside the oil industry’s wastewater crisis,” featured Mark Olalde of ProPublica as moderator, joined by Justin Nobel of Rolling Stone and DeSmog, Martha Pskowski of Inside Climate News and Nick Bowlin of Frontier and ProPublica.

“As oil fields age, the ratio of produced water to oil and gas increases,” Bowlin said. “And we’re still in search of what to do with all that waste.”

Nobel described the scale of the issue as “stunning,” noting that it receives little attention from major news organizations.

“They frankly, really have no idea how the oil and gas industry actually works,” he said.

Nobel said wastewater volumes often exceed oil and gas production and criticized current disposal methods.

“They have time and again taken the cheapest and easiest means of disposal,” he said, describing the process as “sophisticated Stone Age.”

He noted wastewater can contain high levels of salt, carcinogens, lead, arsenic and even radioactive materials brought up from deep underground.

Nobel said about 3 billion gallons of wastewater are disposed of daily, totaling more than 1 trillion gallons annually. He added that if barrels of wastewater were stacked, they would reach the moon and back 28 times.

“Ninety-six percent of that, according to the latest statistics we have, is going to injection wells,” Nobel said.

Bowlin, who reports on the industry in Oklahoma, said wastewater contamination is a real concern.

“We probably don’t know how many water sources have been polluted by this stuff,” he said. “But everyone here on this panel reported on instances of oilfield wastewater getting into drinking water sources.”

Pskowski, who covers Texas, pointed to health concerns and pressure buildup from injection wells, particularly in the Permian Basin, noting the issue has been known for decades.

Historical concerns were highlighted in the discussion, including a 1970 statement from Federal Water Quality Administration Commissioner David Dominick, who said subsurface injection was only a temporary solution “until better methods of disposal are developed.”

Similarly, a 1971 statement from EPA researcher Stanley Greenfield described deep well injection as “a technology of avoiding problems, not solving them in any real sense.”

More recent comments from regulators reflect a different tone. A 2025 statement from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources said, “The division has no immediate comment on hypothetical situations.” In 2026, EPA official Brigit Hirsch said the agency is “committed to supporting American energy companies seeking permits for underground injection of fluids associated with oil and natural gas production,” linking it to the “Great American Comeback Initiative.”

Nobel said disagreements between state and federal agencies have complicated efforts to address the issue.

“Essentially, they’re freaking out over how to deal with it,” he said.

He added that some communities, including in Ohio, are pushing for moratoriums on injection wells due to concerns about drinking water contamination.

“Not because we hate oil and gas, just because we don’t want to contaminate our drinking water,” Nobel said.

Nobel said community involvement is becoming a significant factor as the issue continues to develop.