Case Study - Produced Water

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The remediation of agricultural land affected by exploration and production (E&P) activities remains one of the most persistent and complex challenges in environmental engineering within the Permian Basin. The overlap of intensive hydrocarbon extraction with essential food and fiber production creates a landscape in which soil integrity is of utmost importance but remains at continuous risk. This report provides a comprehensive technical analysis of the remediation of a functioning cotton field in Garden City, Glasscock County, Texas, after a catastrophic spill of produced water and crude oil. The incident, involving the release of approximately 1,200 barrels of hypersaline brine and related petroleum hydrocarbons into active crop furrows, triggered a dual-phase environmental crisis: immediate acute phytotoxicity caused by osmotic shock ("salt burn") and long-term soil failure driven by sodicity-induced collapse of soil structure.