Residents in the Preserve at Medina, a subdivision of brick-and-siding homes in southwest San Antonio, have discovered that their neighborhood was built near a plugged oil well that continues to leak hazardous gases. The Thompson Callaway Spears #1 well, located on a street where children walk home from school, has released low levels of hydrogen sulfide, which causes a faint smell of rotten eggs and can lead to headaches and nausea. Soil and air monitoring has also detected methane, with contractors reporting to state regulators in June that plumes of methane gas were moving through the soil toward homes, posing an explosion risk.
Krystal Solis, a resident living across the street from the well, stated that she and her family had no idea about the well when they moved in and that "no one told us anything." This lack of awareness is common, as Texas has no statewide laws requiring real estate developers to disclose legacy oil and gas wells to potential buyers. As a result, many people unknowingly reside near wells that could present future liabilities.
Oil has not flowed from the Thompson Callaway Spears #1 well since it was plugged in 2006. However, it has since vexed Texas regulators, having been replugged five times by the Railroad Commission (RRC), the state's oil and gas industry overseer. Despite these efforts, gas continues to leak. Bryce Dubee, a spokesman for the Railroad Commission, confirmed that both the RRC and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which regulates air pollution, are now conducting regular monitoring of the area.
The well was originally drilled in 1955 by J.D. Collins on what was then rural land. After decades of changing hands and declining production, Black Jack Services plugged the well in 2006. The well was largely forgotten until 2019 when construction began on the Preserve at Medina subdivision. Developers discovered gas leaking at the site that year, and RRC inspectors confirmed hydrogen sulfide and methane were coming from the ground. The RRC replugged the well, assuming costs as the former operator was delinquent. A staffer wrote in a subsequent report that the fix "seemed to have worked this time around."
However, the leaks persisted. In 2021, RRC inspectors returned and found the well was still leaking. Contractors plugged it again in January 2022, during which a welder found a flammable methane leak and refused to continue working. The well was replugged once more that August. By this time, people had begun moving into the surrounding homes, which include three- and four-bedroom houses. The well was plugged for the fifth time in May 2023.
Amanda and Anthony Pacheco, who moved into the neighborhood in July 2021, were drawn by the rural atmosphere. Amanda Pacheco noted that some days her home, down the street from the well, "reeks." She also described how vibrations from drilling equipment during a 2024 replugging shook her house and caused cracks in the concrete foundation. She stated they would not have purchased the home if they had known about the well's issues.
The situation in the Preserve at Medina is not unique; many residential developments across the country are located near old wells. Failures of plugged wells have been linked to leaks, fires, and explosions in residential areas, including incidents in Wheatley, Ontario, and Trinidad, Colorado. Earlier this year, a plugged well failed in the parking lot of a Baptist church in Grandfalls, flooding the property with toxic wastewater.
Railroad Commission spokesman Bryce Dubee said the well will be replugged again "using a different strategy and materials," with the proposed operation currently under review. Julie Range, policy manager for the nonprofit Commission Shift, stated that requiring disclosure of past oil and gas activity and building setback standards from old wells could protect homebuyers, noting that the lack of historic disclosure makes it difficult for new owners to know the risks on their property. Adam Peltz of the Environmental Defense Fund advises homebuyers to do their own due diligence, as this issue occurs "all over the country."
