(Brian Maffly | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah regulators have issued a maximum $200,000 fine to Weststar Exploration Co. for failing to fix this leaking gas well, one of about 100 the bankrupt Texas-based company has walked away from in the Uinta Basin. This well, photographed on Aug. 4, 2022, sits on state trust land on a field known as Southman Canyon.
Brian Maffly has worked for The Tribune off and on since 1994. Maffly roams Utah, covering public land and environment.