Fracking cleared of water well contamination in central Wyoming

In a stunning reversal of the findings and claims of other agencies, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality says hydraulic fracking did not contaminate the drinking water wells of Pavillion, Wyoming.

The DEQ stated, “Evidence does not indicate that hydraulic fracturing fluids have risen to shallow depths utilized by water-supply wells. Also, based on an evaluation of hydraulic fracturing history, and methods used in the Pavillion Gas Field, it is unlikely that hydraulic fracturing has caused any impacts to the water-supply wells.”

The updated report from the original November 2016 Pavillion study came after a scientific investigation that included the collection of water quality from water-supply wells, domestic, irrigation and stock. The study focused on conditions that “might cause palatability or toxicity issues.” It also evaluated the integrity of nearby oil and gas wells and the historic use of surface pits in the Pavillion Gas Field.

The new study is a direct contradiction of a 2016 study by Stanford University scientists who stated that hydraulic fracturing and other oil and gas operations contaminated the groundwater in Pavillion. Reports at the time said the findings raised concerns about possible water pollution in other heavily fracked and geologically similar communities in the west.

A March 2016 story by Inside Climate News proclaimed “Study also finds companies fracked into underground sources of water and at much shallower depths than previously known close to drinking water wells.”

Inside Climate News described Pavillion as a “flashpoint in the national debate over the potential impact of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on drinking water.”

Residents of Pavillion had complained of tainted drinking water in the 1990s as oil and gas development grew in the area. The EPA studied the issue and released a 2011 study “indicating that oil and gas activities contaminated the town’s water.”

The Wyoming DEQ’s final report stated that based on June and August 2014 sampling of the 13 water supply wells “other
than an organochlorine (OC) pesticide (beta-xachlorocyclohexane or beta-BHC) and a phthalate ester (bis (2-ethylhexyl phthalate) or BEHP), no organic compounds were identified at concentrations exceeding applicable drinking water standards.”

Phthalate is used as a plasticizer in flexible PVC plastics and is a common laboratory contaminant. Inorganic compounds that were found over applicable drinking water standards are generally associated with naturally occurring salts, metals and radionuclides.

While the updated study by the Wyoming DEQ cleared fracking of water contamination, it also revealed there are some issues with gas wells experiencing slow gas seepage.

“Sustained bradenhead pressures in several gas wells provide an indication that gas and possibly liquid migration may be happening, however, there is no evidence this migration has caused water quality issues,” stated the new report.

Click here to view report.