By PIERRE BERTRAND
Energy in Depth, a public outreach arm of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, has issued a list of questions dissecting the Environmental Protection Agency's draft report that linked hydraulic fracturing in Wyoming to ground water contamination.
The report is the first time hydraulic fracturing has been scientifically linked to ground water contamination, but not everybody agrees with its findings.
Within less then a day of its release, the draft report sent ripples throughout the oil and natural gas industry in Wyoming and was condemned as reckless by the state's petroleum association and by Wyoming governor Matt Head, who called the study "scientifically questionable."
Questions were also raised about the report prior to its publication, with the Wyoming Water Development Office recommending in a Nov. 29 review of the EPA study that at least 8 to 10 more water samples be taken on a specific testing schedule, for a more complete scientific analysis.
What EPA Found
The EPA draft report found synthetic chemicals -- like those used in the fracturing process of gas drilling -- in deep water monitoring wells the agency drilled for the purpose of the study, according to the agency's release announcing the study's findings.
The agency also found traces of hydrocarbons and chemicals in shallower drinking water wells, which the agency says is proof fracking chemicals are migrating from lower depths into the area's drinking water.
"Alternative explanations were carefully considered to explain individual sets of data. However, when considered together with other lines of evidence, the data indicates likely impact to ground water that can be explained by hydraulic fracturing," the EPA wrote in its draft study.
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