According to an article in the USA Today, the EPA announced yesterday that groundwater beneath the town of Pavillion, WY, was polluted with compounds associated with fracking chemicals. Residents complain that the water reeks of chemicals, and were advised last year not to drink the water after it was found to contain hydrocarbons.
Peer reviewed studies of the issue still need completed, and it should be noted that the unique geology underlying Pavillion is suspected of contributing to the cause of the pollution.
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I have read the EPA report.
Perusing USA Today and/or the New York Times for accurate information about any subject which is technical, especially if it has sociopolitical implications, is a waste of time.
So I offer the following information taken from the EPA report’s data, extended abstract and conclusions:
First, the gas wells in the Pavillion are not comperable to Marcellus wells. They are fractured at a depth of about 1000 feet, about five to ten times shallower than Marcellus.
As would be expected, the deeper of two test wells drilled by the EPA exhibited “much higher” (EPA’s language) levels of contamination.
Second, contamination was found to be partly from surface waste pits, not from the wells per se.