The wrecking of land and water by salt, in Oklahoma they call it "Killing the Soil", proceeds but not without objection and more intense as the New York Times puts a spotlight on crippled state agencies. The agencies are overwhelmed by the pace of development enforcement is non-existent in the old, that is the conventional oil fields and that is where the majority of the problem is manifesting itself. In the unconventional oil field that is the directionally drilled shale formations, North Dakota's Bakken. The development continues without slowing down. The break even point in the most productive zones is $20 a barrel. The state will need all of its tax revenue and more to restore the legacy lands which have become progressively less productive as water tables rise and salts buried for decades are placed back into solution.

Salt of the Earth: Salt, Water and Damage to land in the Bakken and the Willistion Basin

See also recent front page New York Times articles:

• The Downside of the Boom. November 22, 2014 - North Dakota took on the oversight of a multibillion-dollar oil industry with a regulatory system built on trust, warnings and second chances.
• Where Oil and Politics Mix. November 23, 2014 - After an unusual land deal, a giant spill and a tanker-train explosion, anxiety began to ripple across the North Dakota prairie.