Officials and law enforcement in Ector County are making efforts to stop illegal wastewater dumping, a practice that's been on the rise in the booming Permian Basin, according to StateImpact Texas.
With start-up funding from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the county hired a full-time environmental enforcement officer two years ago. Fines from illegal dumping prosecutions should eventually cover the expenses of the county's environmental enforcement efforts. However, as StateImpact reports, a question of jurisdiction between county authorities and the Railroad Commission of Texas has made it difficult to prosecute those who violate state disposal regulations.