USGS Aquifer Tests Near Pavillion, Wyoming Reveal Petroleum-Based Pollutants In Samples

USGS Aquifer Tests Near Pavillion, Wyoming Reveal Petroleum-Based Pollutants In Samples by Laura Zuckerman, Reuters, September 28, 2012, Huffingtonpost
Government testing of a drinking water aquifer near a tiny Wyoming town has shown concentrations of gases like ethane and propane and diesel compounds, but a natural gas company said it did not cause the contamination. A report by the U.S. Geological Survey showed petroleum-based pollutants in samples from a monitoring well in the aquifer adjacent to Pavillion, Wyoming, which is at the center of a national debate over hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. … The EPA is expected in coming days to release its testing of water from two groundwater monitoring wells, several domestic wells and a public well. The data sets are to be submitted for peer review. The EPA said the groundwater monitoring data in its 2011 report and USGS findings were “generally consistent.” But Encana spokesman Doug Hock said the findings are not equal and singled out USGS for providing “credible data” in research whose “implications are not just for Encana but for the whole industry.” … Encana’s Hock said the Canadian company denies the pollution in Pavillion is related to its operations.