\nCHEYENNE, Wyo. —\u00a0The\u00a0U.S. Environmental Protection Agency<\/a>\u00a0announced Thursday for the first time that fracking – a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells – may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution.
\nThe draft finding could have a chilling effect in states trying to determine how to regulate the process.
\nThe practice is called hydraulic fracturing and involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to open fissures and improve the flow of oil or gas to the surface.
\nThe\u00a0EPA’s<\/a>\u00a0found that compounds likely associated with fracking chemicals had been detected in the groundwater beneath a Wyoming community where residents say their well water reeks of chemicals.
\nHealth officials advised them not to drink their water after the EPA found hydrocarbons in their wells.
\nThe EPA announcement has major implications for the vast increase in gas drilling in the U.S. in recent years. Fracking has played a large role in opening up many reserves.
\nThe industry has long contended that fracking is safe, but environmentalists and some residents who live near drilling sites say it has poisoned groundwater.
\nThe EPA said its announcement is the first step in a process of opening up its findings for review by the public and other scientists.
\n“EPA’s highest priority remains ensuring that Pavillion residents have access to safe drinking water,” said Jim Martin, EPA regional administrator in Denver. “We look forward to having these findings in the draft report informed by a transparent and public review process.”
\nThe EPA also emphasized that the findings are specific to the Pavillion area. The agency said the fracking that occurred in Pavillion differed from fracking methods used elsewhere in regions with different geological characteristics.
\nThe fracking occurred below the level of the drinking water aquifer and close to water wells, the EPA said. Elsewhere, drilling is more remote and fracking occurs much deeper than the level of groundwater that anybody would use.
\nIn Colorado, regulators are considering requiring oil and gas companies to publicly disclose the chemicals used in fracking
\nThe public and industry representatives packed an 11-hour hearing on the issue on Monday. They all generally supported the proposal but the sticking point is whether trade secrets would have to be disclosed and how quickly the information would have be turned over.
\nIndustry representatives say Colorado and Texas are the only states to have moved to consider disclosing all fracking chemicals, not just those considered hazardous by workplace regulators.
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