Could you imagine living in a small town where you know
something is wrong with your water supply, but unsure to the reason why and how
serious of a problem it is? This is what
happened in a town named Pavillion, Wyoming where the individuals of the town had
to fight long and hard to get noticed for a case study to be done on the water
supply.
Individuals sent in complaints once they realized the water
supply had some foul qualities and this sparked an investigation into the quality of the water headed up by the EPA Region 8. John Hanger, a nationally recognized expert
on environment and energy, review the report given by the EPA and claims that the report implies a direct connection to contamination from hydraulic fraccing
and natural gas extraction. The
contamination was so great that the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry, or ATSDR, advised all of the individuals with contaminated water to
use other sources of water for cooking and drinking and when an individual is
showering to make sure the room is ventilated.
Shortly after the report was released by the EPA, EnCana
Natural Gas began to come out with statements defending their projects. EnCana was the only natural gas company with
extracting projects in Pavillion and claimed that the EPA reports has no
evidence that the contamination came from hydraulic fraccing and that the report
is only implying the accusation. EnCana
also pointed out that the findings released by the EPA were not reviewed by qualified third party individuals which are important to determining the true
cause of the contamination.
Even though the findings cannot prove that the hydraulic fraccing
is the source of the contamination, the EPA is working with EnCana to make sure all of the individuals living in Pavillion, Wyoming have a clean water supply. Today the town of Pavillion is
being considered for the National Priorities List which is a list of waste
sites eligible for clean up financed by the federal Superfund program.
-Adam
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