The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the first time has implicated a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells in causing groundwater pollution.
The practice is called hydraulic fracturing and involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to open fissures and improve the flow of oil or gas.
The EPA announced Thursday that it found compounds likely associated with fracking chemicals in the groundwater beneath a Wyoming community where residents say their well water reeks of chemicals.
It could have a chilling effect in states trying to determine how to regulate the controversial process. Those states include Pennsylvania and Ohio, where shale drilling is booming.
According to a press release, the EPA constructed two deep monitoring wells to sample water in the aquifer. The draft report indicates that ground water in the aquifer contains compounds likely associated with gas production practices, including hydraulic fracturing. EPA also re-tested private and public drinking water wells in the community.
The samples were consistent with chemicals identified in earlier EPA results released in 2010 and are generally below established health and safety standards. To ensure a transparent and rigorous analysis, EPA is releasing these findings for public comment and will submit them to an independent scientific review panel.
The draft findings announced Thursday are specific to Pavillion, where the fracturing is taking place in and below the drinking water aquifer and in close proximity to drinking water wells - production conditions different from those in many other areas of the country.
At the direction of Congress, and separate from this ground water investigation, EPA has begun a national study on the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources, according to the release.
"EPA's highest priority remains ensuring that Pavillion residents have access to safe drinking water," Jim Martin, EPA's regional administrator in Denver, said in the release. "We will continue to work cooperatively with the State, Tribes, Encana and the community to secure long-term drinking water solutions. We look forward to having these findings in the draft report informed by a transparent and public review process. In consultation with the Tribes, EPA will also work with the State on additional investigation of the Pavillion field."
To read the release and for more on the investigation,
click here. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
