Ashley Watt has been thinking about death a lot lately. The death of her mother, the death of her cattle and how things end in the oil patch.
鈥淣o one wants to discuss what it looks like when an oil well or an oil field dies,鈥� Watt said, sitting in her home on her 22,000-acre ranch in Crane County.
She hadn鈥檛 really thought about it before either. But over the last year, she鈥檚 come face-to-face with a long list of problems spawned from the aging oilfield dotting the horizon of her property.
It was a bright July day when we first met and the 35-year-old gave me a tour of the land. We were looking for an oil spill that had become part of the landscape.
鈥淗ere鈥檚 some of it on the left and there鈥檚 another one over that hill,鈥� she said.
As we pushed through scrub brush, an acrid smell filled the air. Then, Watt pointed out a large black glob. 鈥淚t is crude oil basically mixed with sand and just dried over time to create an oil-sandstone.鈥�
Corroding debris from companies lined her dirt roads. Pumpjacks, pipelines emerged from the ground. And dead mesquite leftover from past accidents filled the scenery where cows should be grazing.
One after another, Watt pointed out scars left from the industry 鈥� sometimes pulling out a drone to get a better look at the landscape.
鈥淵ou want to see a gas leak before it鈥檚 treated鈥t鈥檚 like literally just a dead circle where everything is dead.鈥�
Walking up to an exposed pool of crude, Watt spotted something. 鈥淥h here鈥檚 a dead bird. Look on the other side, laying right in there.鈥�
It鈥檚 a distressing sight, but Watt said it鈥檚 nothing compared to the existential threat a nearly 70-year-old oil well called 鈥淓stes #24鈥� is causing her.
The well was acquired by Chevron decades ago and by 1995 the oil company plugged and abandoned the Estes, filling it with cement to prevent it from leaking. But in early June, the well was discovered spewing toxic water believed to be from past oil production.
鈥淲ith the Estes #24 blowing out at the surface, that鈥檚 pretty much been my life,鈥� Watt said.
As her team of hired experts assessed the damage and potential impacts to her land, Watt said her biggest concern is the Estes contaminating the groundwater she, her family and livestock drink.
鈥淲e generally don鈥檛 test our water out here. Why do we need it?鈥� she explained, 鈥淚t鈥檚 just well-water and it should be safe.鈥�
, drilling rigs towered over the desert. Watt moved hundreds of cattle off her ranch, finding some dead. While all this was happening, she said she couldn鈥檛 help but think about past incidents, signs that could indicate her drinking water was contaminated.
Watt remembered her mother who had suddenly died from . Could that have been caused by chemicals from the oil field reaching their drinking water? When did all these problems start? She had her suspicions but no hard proof.
More and more Watt began to have a lot of questions: 鈥淲hat have we been drinking?鈥� and 鈥淲hat have I consumed?鈥�
Catie Matthews, a spokesperson for Chevron thinks these concerns are misplaced.
鈥淪imply put there鈥檚 nothing to suggest at this point in time that the aquifer is contaminated,鈥� said Matthews.
While Watt and her team believe there could be more leaks happening underground that aren鈥檛 being caught, Matthews said water samples taken from a fresh water well showed Benzene and other chemicals found in oil production were within safe drinking limits.
鈥淚 would just hope that people are following the facts, not the claims, the facts,鈥� Matthews said.
It took nearly three months, but Chevron was able to re-plug the Estes in early September.
In that time, Watt took to and post her theories on what caused the Estes 鈥� and at least one other oil well 鈥� to leak. Essentially, Watt鈥檚 team believes injected water from oil production has increased pressure underneath her land and is causing old wells to leak above and potentially below ground.
Matthews said Chevron won鈥檛 speculate on what caused the Estes to leak, but insists the company has done right by Watt. For instance, the company provided drinking water to Watt for months and held regular briefings with her and her staff on the situation.
鈥淭he work was to stop the flow at the surface and re-plug the well and we鈥檝e done both of those things,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ny other concerns Ms. Watt would address with the Texas Railroad Commission.鈥�
The Texas Railroad Commission, the confusingly named oil and gas regulator for the state, has been investigating the Estes along with other issues across Watt鈥檚 property, where dozens of oil and gas companies have left their mark for decades.
One of the agency鈥檚 core tenets, according to a spokesperson, is the 鈥減rotection of public safety and the environment.鈥� But critics of the regulator, like Virginia Palacios, question how good the agency is at doing its job. Palacios is the executive director of , a nonprofit dedicated to holding the railroad commission accountable.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we have a system we can trust right now,鈥� she lamented.
According to Palacios, the state鈥檚 oil and gas regulator has serious problems ranging from to reacting slowly to industry violations. In some cases, it鈥檚 taken years for the agency to resolve situations concerning
鈥淚 see people asking for help from the railroad commission and not getting it,鈥� Palacios said. 鈥淟andowners are sitting here, community members are sitting here kind of waiting for justice, experiencing health impacts and it isn鈥檛 fair.鈥�
According to Palacios, all of that makes it hard to believe that the railroad commission is effective at protecting Texans from the oil and gas industry.
These worries though didn鈥檛 stop Watt from appearing before the commission during to plead her case.
鈥淭his entire incident has been absolutely embarrassing for us as a state,鈥� . 鈥淭he oil and gas industry can not be allowed to permanently destroy the lands and waters of West Texas.鈥�
It wasn鈥檛 her first time in front of the agency. Watt had previously presented her team鈥檚 evidence indicating toxic water from the oil field could be flowing into multiple aquifers under her land 鈥� and there鈥檚 reason to believe the subsurface pressure that caused the Estes to erupt with toxic water will cause other abandoned oil wells to spring back to life.
Watt asked the state to have Chevron drill groundwater monitoring wells and, if needed, have Chevron clean up the damage to her water and property. Jim Wright, one of the three officials leading the railroad commission, responded to Watt.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying to study everything about your situation and you have my commitment within the law that things are done correctly,鈥� Wright said during the nearly hour meeting.
A few days later the commission ignored Watt鈥檚 request, approving Chevron鈥檚 plan to take soil samples to assess the degree of pollution left from the Estes, which still needs to be cleaned up.
It鈥檚 not the outcome Watt was looking for, but she鈥檚 planning on meeting with Chevron later this month. If the company doesn鈥檛 agree to her proposal, then she鈥檚 ready to spend thousands to drill the monitoring wells herself and even go to court.
鈥淚f I just wanted money I would not be speaking to you. I would have shut up,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I would have attorneys on this and we would be negotiating and trying to get money out of this. That鈥檚 not my goal. My goal is just to get this land cleaned up.鈥�
There are five stages of grief, and when I first met Watt she was angry. But now, as months have passed, she said she鈥檚 reached a level of 鈥渄ejected acceptance.鈥�
Thinking back to when she drove me around her land, the idea that she鈥檚 grieving makes a lot of sense.
鈥淢y legacy is tied to this land,鈥� she said.
Watt will tell you how her family has been in the Permian Basin since , which is part of why she said this experience has been so hard for her.
鈥淭his is where all my childhood memories are. This is where I scattered my mom鈥檚 ashes, my dad鈥檚 ashes. There鈥檚 literally blood and sweat and tears that are in this.鈥�
All Watt wants is to go back to raising cattle and enjoying her land. But that won鈥檛 be possible until she knows her water is safe to drink. That may take a while, but Watt is prepared to do whatever she can to make sure she has a long life on her ranch.