The EPA announced last week it has ordered Murphy Exploration, Pioneer Natural Resources, and Samson Hydrocarbons to pay the city $320,000 to reimburse costs related to water infrastructure and relocating water wells. They will also have to monitor the city's public water supply and provide treatment, or an alternate drinking source, if the water becomes contaminated to the point where it's an official public health risk.
The contamination involves highly saline wastewater that contains trace metals, inorganic salt concentrations, and volatile organic compounds, but the city's treated water has been deemed safe to drink. Yet monthly samples collected by the oil companies show "an upward trend in total dissolved solids, chloride and sodium," and an EPA scientist said the water supply faces imminent danger.