Hydraulic fracturing is booming in Texas, and with the practice comes an increase in the use of disposal wells. But Northeast Texas has few disposal wells compared to some parts of the state.
An interactive map published by the Texas Tribune shows the location of the more than 7,000 sites around Texas where wastewater is disposed. Such wastewater has often been used in hydraulic fracturing operations.
A quick look at the statewide view shows clusters of wells in Texas' traditional oil and natural gas production centers - the Permian Basin, the eastern Panhandle, the Big Country/Cross Timbers region, the Piney Woods and Southeast Texas.
In the northeastern part of the state, a few clusters of disposal wells exist. But many counties have no such wells at all. Draw an oval from Dallas to McKinney to Bonham to Paris to Commerce to Greenville and back down to Dallas, and you've enclosed a part of the state without a single disposal well, according to Texas Railroad Commission data.
Hopkins County has a few located south of Cooper Lake. Further to the east, there's a cluster of disposal wells in the vicinity of the Titus County town of Talco. To the south, in Wood County, there are several disposal wells between Lake Fork and Quitman.
