Groundwater

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) data and analysis did not support the conclusion linking water contamination in Pavillion, WY, to chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, according to a new analysis released Wednesday.

A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider its decision to throw out a ban on oil and natural gas drilling in the Allegheny National Forest.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead on Wednesday asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cooperate in a scientific review and analysis of groundwater quality in Pavillion, which federal officials assert may have been polluted by natural gas drilling and well stimulation practices.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead on Wednesday asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to cooperate in a scientific review and analysis of groundwater quality in Pavillion, which federal officials assert may have been polluted by natural gas drilling methods.

The nine-member city council in Colorado’s second largest city, Colorado Springs (pop. 416,000), voted unanimously Wednesday to invoke a 60-day moratorium on oil and gas drilling within the city limits. The action was taken in an emergency meeting scheduled to look at exploration and production (E&P) activity.

A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) can’t refuse to give operators permission to drill in the Allegheny National Forest while it conducts an environmental impact study there.

Texas keeps getting hotter and drier, and aquifer water levels keep declining as homeowners, farmers and oil and gas drillers keep pumping water for their various uses. However, one water watcher told NGI’s Shale Daily he does not expect curtailments on water use for drilling/hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in the Eagle Ford Shale.

The City of Wellsburg, WV, has taken its first step toward repealing an ordinance it had enacted less than three months ago calling for a ban on natural gas drilling within the city and an adjacent one-mile buffer zone.

Mainstream media coverage of natural gas development in the Marcellus Shale has turned negative, according to a recent study conducted by a Pennsylvania-based public relations firm in conjunction with a Marcellus online discussion forum.