Climate Change
Peering Inside the Pandora’s Box of Oil and Gas Waste
A new book investigates what happens to the mountains of waste generated by the American oil and gas industry.
In 1971, scientists gathered at a symposium to examine the practice of getting rid of oil and gas wastewater by injecting it into porous rock formations deep underground. Called injection wells, they are now widely used by the industry to dispose of the liquid byproducts when an oil or gas well is drilled, which can contain salts, metals and radioactive elements. At the conference, experts speculated about the long-term consequences for the earth and human health.