Stay updated with breaking news from Michael Bordovsky. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
A looming wave of abandoned wells threatens to leave taxpayers in Texas and New Mexico on the hook for almost $1 billion in cleanup. (via @grist & @texasobserver)
After closing on the property a decade ago, it didnât take the Briggs family long to make the place their own. They built a roomy, two-story metal house and constructed livestock pens for hogs, goats, donkeys, and cattle. For a few years, the Briggs ranch delivered the rural splendor theyâd hoped for. âWhen you come out here, it is dry. There is no Starbucks. But there is a peace to that,â Laura said. âThis takes some stress off your shoulders and youâre like, all you really need in life is a pair of blue jeans and a good book.â
How Texas’s zombie oil wells are creating an environmental disaster zone Clayton Aldern, Christopher Collins, and Naveena Sadasivam © Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Nick Oxford/Reuters When Laura Briggs and her husband finally found their dream home in west Texas, they knew they’d be sharing space with the oil industry. The Pecos county ranch’s previous owner, local attorney Windel “Hoot” Gibson, died there when a rickety old pumpjack teetered over and fell on top of him. But sharing 900 acres with a handful of old oil wells seemed like a fair trade for a sp...