TOYAH — After a restless night of sleep, Elida Machuca texted her neighbor, searching for answers.

The air around her house in this West Texas town stunk of rotten eggs.

“Last night, about 1 a.m., it was so bad we couldn’t sleep,” she said. “We were feeling nauseous.”

“Should we be worried?”

Her neighbor, Brandie Baker, is Toyah’s water and wastewater administrator. She told Machuca she believed — thought could not be certain — the smell that has overwhelmed this town of 61 was coming from an abandoned well that exploded.

Nine days have passed since a furious torrent of water burst from a once-plugged well in Reeves County. Water is still shooting upwards, visible as far as seven miles away.

It is at least the eighth time since last October that chemical water has spewed from a well in West Texas without clear ownership, according to Sarah Stogner, an oil and gas attorney who for years has documented eruptions from orphaned wells.

About 4.6 million Americans live within a half mile of an often-called orphaned well, according to a 2023 study by the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund. The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission has tallied 140,000

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