Injecting saltwater back into the ground “is likely contributing to recent seismic activity,” the Railroad Commission of Texas has said.

Critics are calling on federal regulators to increase their scrutiny and oversight of the proposed pipeline, which would send gas from Texas to the Mexican coast for export to other countries.

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.

The quake was the third largest in Texas history, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. An increase in seismic activity in Texas has been linked to injecting fracking wastewater underground.

Video of the court proceedings, released by Judge Roy Ferguson on social media and on YouTube, shows how the call happened. IMPORTANT ZOOM TIP: If a child used your computer, before you join a virtual hearing check the Zoom Video Options to be sure filters are off. #lawtwitter #OhNo @zoom_ushttps://t.co/I0zaj0wu6K — Judge Roy Ferguson (@JudgeFergusonTX) February 9, 2021“Mr. Ad“Can you hear me judge?” Ponton says. — Judge Roy Ferguson (@JudgeFergusonTX) February 9, 2021Watch the video in full in the player below:Related: Sheriff making changes at the Bexar County jail to address court case backlog

So before Thanksgiving, he drove more than 500 miles west from his home in McKinney to visit Marfa and Big Bend National Park. They’re rural, sparsely populated, outdoorsy and now — overrun with visitors and saturated with COVID-19 cases. Presidio and Brewster counties, home to Marfa and Big Bend, along with nearby Culberson County, lead the state in cases per 1,000 residents in the last two weeks, according to a Texas Tribune analysis. In fact, all of West Texas, including Jeff Davis, Hudspeth and El Paso counties, is ablaze with increasing COVID-19 cases and low on hospital beds. “It’s a scary feeling to have a critically ill patient with nowhere to go,” said Gilda Morales, a Culberson County commissioner and doctor at Culberson Hospital.