"WASHINGTON — For almost as long as there have been oil wells in Texas, drillers have pumped the vast quantities of brackish wastewater that comes up with the oil into underground wells thousands of feet beneath the earth’s surface.

But with concern growing that the underlying geology in the Permian Basin and other shale plays are reaching capacity for disposal wells, the Trump administration is examining whether to adjust decades-old federal clean water regulations to allow drillers to discharge wastewater directly into rivers and streams from which communities draw their water supplies.

But with concern growing that the underlying geology in the Permian Basin and other shale plays are reaching capacity for disposal wells, the Trump administration is examining whether to adjust decades-old federal clean water regulations to allow drillers to discharge wastewater directly into rivers and streams from which communities draw their water supplies."

James Osborne reports for the Houston Chronicle October 15, 2018. [2]