‘We’re Being Wrapped in Poison’: A Century of Oil and Gas Development Has Devastated the Ponca City Region of Northern Oklahoma

From abandoned wells to refineries, hydraulic fracturing and man-made earthquakes, the destruction has poisoned air, land and water. Now the Ponca Tribe is fighting back.

By Phil McKenna

PONCA CITY, Oklahoma—When Earl “Trey” Howe III returned home here after four years of military service, the first thing he noticed was the smell.