EPA: Natural Gas Fracking Linked to Water Contamination Synthesis

Near the town of Pavillion, people have been drinking contaminated water for years. The Environmental Protection Agency has roughly concluded that the contamination was due to natural gas fracking.

            When EPA conducted their first tests in Wyoming, they concluded that the problems with the cement and water pollution are not connected to fracking because there were many other factors that should be taken into consideration.

            In the mid-1990s, many residents in the area started to complain about the water near Pavillion. Later in 2004, situations continued to get worse. “Several residents complained that their well water turned brown shortly after gas wells were fracked nearby” (EPA) In 2008, EPA came back and started a new round of tests. They concluded that the water was highly contaminated; residents should stop drinking from the wells around them because they could get poisoned; it might even cause explosion because of the amount of methane that was in the water. At the end, the EPA concluded that the contamination of water was caused by fracking because the wells in the area were “fracked at shallower depths than many of the wells in the Marcellus shale and elsewhere” (EPA).

            When the government officials asked to see a detailed breakdown of every compound used underground, the fracking company declined the request. They also accused the EPA for not being consistent with their labels and data.

            Fracking is risky after all because nobody can guarantee everything will work out perfectly. Right now, no decision has been made yet, the EPA’s finding is scheduled to be peer reviewed.