An exclusive Inside Climate News analysis found that companies have spilled nearly 150 million gallons of toxic, highly saline wastewater in Texas over the last decade.

With little in local tax revenue to help pay staff, rural Texas sheriffs are often forced to do more with less. Lawmakers hope a new grant program will help rebuild the ranks of rural law enforcement.

Operators pump a sea of “produced water” underground for disposal. Intensifying tremors raise fears that the deep toxic waste pits could intermingle with water used for farming and drinking.