Thursday, March 10, 2011

Group Meets to Investigate Pavillion's Bad Water--Casper Star Tribune

By JEREMY FUGLEBERG 
March 1, 2011

 PAVILLION, Wyo. — Government officials, the state rural drinking water association and a natural gas firm have banded together to seek the answer to an important question: What is contaminating the drinking water in wells around Pavillion?

 On Tuesday, the representatives hammered out what information they needed to gather and study the issue.

 The main goal of the working group must be to determine where the contamination comes from, said Tom Doll, superintendent of the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

 “Otherwise we’ll be here two or three years from now, and I don’t think that’s anyone’s intent,” he said.

 The group is made up of representatives from the federal and Wyoming governments, area water quality groups and Encana, the firm operating wells in the natural gas field around Pavillion.

 The group was assembled after the Environmental Protection Agency determined last year that some residents in the area shouldn’t drink their well water because of contamination, although the EPA didn’t assign blame for the contamination and recommended further investigation.....continued....