A two-year study by the Wyoming Dept. of Environmental Quality found that bacteria were likely the cause of foul-smelling well water in the community of Pavillion. A problematic EPA report — which was never finalized —had suggested hydraulic fracturing (fracking) might be the cause.

fracking facts coverThe EPA had turned the investigation over to the Wyoming DEQ to complete. Those results, published this week, essentially reiterated findings from EPA, university, and government studies from Texas, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Colorado: that fracking is an intrinsically safe process.

To learn more

For more information on fracking, see my newsletters on research findings concerning drinking water and groundwater, my Policy Report addressing a host of concerns about fracking, and ongoing updates here on The Locker Room (including major though curiously unreported good news on emissions and air quality).

For those interested in what is injected deep in the ground in fracking fluid (99 percent of which is water and sand), see the chart at the end of this report. It details each of the over three dozen most commonly used chemicals in the fracking process according to its use in the wells, if it’s commonly known, if it’s found in food, and if it’s found in common household products (with examples of those products).