San Antonio-based Petro Waste Environmental L.P. opened its Orla Landfill facility in Reeves County, Texas.

"We are very excited about the opening of the Orla Landfill in the Delaware Basin," Petro Waste Founder and CEO George Wommack said in a statement. "This represents a significant step toward achieving Petro Waste's goal of locating PWE facilities within 30 miles of all drilling activities in the Permian Basin."

The Orla Landfill is a 217-acre Texas Railroad Commission (RRC)-regulated oil and gas non-hazardous solid waste disposal facility at the intersection of Highway 285 and FM 652 in Reeves County. The landfill will accept oil- and water-based mud, oil- and water-based drill cuttings, contaminated soil and RCRA exempt non-hazardous E&P waste. The facility will also provide washouts and other ancillary services.

The Orla Landfill is the first in a series of facilities planned by Petro Waste in the Permian Basin (a region in the Western part of Texas). The company is also constructing a landfill in Howard County between Stanton and Big Spring on the north side of the frontage road of Interstate 20 at exit 165. The 144-acre Howard County Landfill is expected to open in the third quarter of 2017 and will provide the same services as the Orla Landfill. Petro Waste also holds a permit for a facility on IH-20 on the Pecos-Reeves County border and is permitting an additional facility in the southern Midland Basin.

Oil and gas exploration and protection (E&P) creates various forms of waste that must be processed and disposed of according to strict regulations set by the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In recent years, technological advancements have helped E&P companies extract hydrocarbons from the earth more efficiently, but have increased the volume of non-hazardous solid wastes and high-solids-content waste fluids, according to Petro Waste. However, the lack of infrastructure in the Permian and Eagle Ford plays capable of efficiently processing and disposing of these waste streams made it necessary to truck large quantities of the wastes over long distances.

Wommack founded Petro Waste Environmental LP in 2012 to address this infrastructure shortage. Since then, PWE has been constructing RRC-permitted waste-processing and disposal facilities throughout the Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford Shale. The company works with engineering firms to create facilities including technology such as high-tech automation and monitoring systems that supplement the functions of onsite personnel.

In addition to opening the Orla and Howard landfills, Petro Waste will begin construction on two large-scale regional landfill projects this year, plus a third in the Permian Basin and, potentially, a fourth in Eagle Ford, as dictated by market demand.