A Small Oil Company Polluted Midland’s Water Reserve. The Cleanup Has Dragged on for Years.Inside Climate NewsMedia Coverage | Jan 18, 2026

Cleaning up oilfield pollution in arid West Texas is costly and complicated. The bankruptcy process allows companies to move on while the public pays the price.

By Martha Pskowski
January 18th, 2026

Oilfield contamination can threaten precious water supplies in a growing, thirsty state. In November 2025, Texans voted to dedicate up to $1 billion annually to the Texas Water Fund to grow the state’s water supply.

“We’re putting one billion dollars toward finding new supplies of water,” said Julie Range, policy manager at Commission Shift, an organization focused on reforming the Railroad Commission. “We should be protecting every drop of water we have—that should include these operations that we know are risky.”