Frack chemical contamination

EPA investigates 11 polluted wells

By FRITZ MAYER

PAVILLION, WY — Gas-drilling supporters often make the claim that there has never been a documented case where fracking fluids, used in a deep-drilling operation, have contaminated water wells. Industry critics say that’s not true and explain that most instances of possible contamination go unreported because residents can’t afford adequate testing. Also, because the contents of the fluid are kept secret, residents don’t know what chemicals to test for.

Now, however, industry watchdogs say the contamination of about 40 wells in Wyoming, being investigated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, may provide solid evidence that chemicals used in the fracking process can end up in drinking wells.

The EPA informed concerned residents on August 10 that 11 of 39 wells, tested in an area around Pavillion, were contaminated with various substances connected with gas drilling, and three were contaminated with 2-butoxyethanol (2-BE), a substance known to be used in fracking fluids.

The EPA testing came after residents had been complaining for years that drilling was making them sick and ruining their wells. In 2000, EnCana, a Canadian-based oil-and-gas exploration company, started an extensive gas-drilling operation in the area. Since then, residents have complained of numerous symptoms, such as losing the senses of taste and smell. Many have also complained that wells, which had provided clean fresh water for years, were now producing foul-smelling water unfit for consumption by humans or animals.

The residents took their concerns to the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the agency looked into the matter but found no direct link between EnCana’s operation and the contamination. In fact, at one point, a spokesman for the DEQ told a local reporter that the odor and appearance problem in one well was particularly focused on a type of bacteria.

However, according to Deb Thomas, a member of the Powder River Basin Resource Council (PRBRC), DEQ did not perform its own testing but, instead, studied the results of testing performed by EnCana. Ultimately, the state and EnCana concluded that there was no contamination.

Members of two Wyoming citizens groups, PRBRC and the Clark Resource Council, contacted the EPA about the matter and convinced officials to tour the site, which occurred in May 2008. Additionally, the groups’ members went to Denver, CO to inform officials from various agencies about their health concerns. They also had complaints about the way EnCana conducted its testing.

Now that the EPA has found contamination in 11 wells, they will return and perform further tests, this time including wells that were left out of the initial testing. After that, the EPA will try to determine whether the contaminants got into the wells from underground migration or other methods, such as leaks in the evaporation pits or possibly from spills.