Kelton Ranch Sinkhole (March 2026). Image: K. Wight
Upton County, TX — Recent heavy rains in Upton County, Texas have caused a Kelton Ranch sinkhole to overflow, creating an oil slick now coating the surrounding land. Eyewitnesses reported the substance on soil and vegetation. In a recent video uploaded to Facebook, ranch manager Josh Alexander describes seeing oil in every direction, as far as a mile downhill from the sinkhole.
“We’ve asked the Railroad Commission to plug the well causing the sinkhole that’s been filling with oil. They’ve come and looked at it, but haven’t done a thing, hoping the public remains unaware of the problem, and hoping it’ll just go away on its own. All we’ve wanted is for our water to remain safe to drink and for our cows to be able to safely roam. But now we are stuck with a massive mess of a leaking failed abandoned well, and further potential for contamination elsewhere. This is infuriating and sickening.”
— Josh Alexander, Ranch Manager
“The Railroad Commission is failing Texas. We need a commission that holds industry to account and proactively prevents pollution instead of ignoring it. We need leadership willing to roll up their sleeves and prevent disasters like this from ever happening. We need the Commission to be well-staffed and well-resourced by industry taxes so they can take on failing legacy oil and gas infrastructure.”
— Julie Range, Commission Shift Policy Manager
Oil slick on soil and vegetation near the Kelton Ranch Sinkhole (May 2026). Images: Josh Alexander
Formed from a collapsed, poorly plugged oil and gas well in 1977, the Kelton Ranch sinkhole in Upton County, West Texas has grown to roughly 200 feet wide and 40 feet deep, and continues to grow. Oil presented in the sinkhole roughly two years ago. The oil slick caused by heavy rains flowed over property lines onto land owned by University Lands, whose revenues benefit the University of Texas system. For decades, locals have filed complaints and requests to the Railroad Commission to stabilize the area, but no significant action has been taken.
Sinkholes like this and others pose enormous cleanup costs and risk damaging surrounding structures, rerouting roads, and leaking oil into groundwater. The Railroad Commission’s backlog of orphaned wells has now reached over 12,000 wells — the highest on record in nearly two decades. Peer reviewed studies have linked produced water injection to sinkholes in West Texas.
“As we continue to extract oil from the ground or pump oil wastewater back underground, it interacts with our aging oil and gas infrastructure,” said Julie Range, policy manager for Commission Shift. “It’s best to prevent problems by plugging old wells, but when problems arise, they need to be addressed immediately rather than allowed to fester for decades. The story of this sinkhole is a cautionary tale. We can keep small problems from growing into big expensive disasters by plugging these holes quickly.’”
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